Darien
by Mariel1
Summary: A new Cousin joins the Care Bear Family. He and Stellar Heart dislike each other immediately, so there's bound to be some conflict when Darien shows an interest in Hope. Part 15 of the Lucky Seven series.
1. I Don't Need Help

"Darien"

_Author's Note: I've had this idea sitting on the back burner for a long time, and I think it's finally time to introduce this guy. I don't own the Care Bears, but Darien is mine. I realize his escape might seem a little...convenient...but it's the best I could do, having no knowledge of those places. On with the story, and I hope you enjoy it. _

"Chapter 1: I Don't Need Help"

In the decrepit alleyway he called home - for the time being, at least - Darien awoke at around midnight. The nights were getting cold, and he wished, not for the first time, that he was waking up in a safe, cozy bed. And, as always, he wished for a hot meal. But wishing never brought relief to his empty belly. He knew that if he wanted something to happen, it was up to him and him alone to _make_ it happen. Now was the time to be up and looking for a meal.

He sat up, his black mane in disarray, and shucked his covering of old newspapers. His body fur was such a dark orange that it looked red in the moonlight. What with his orange and black fur, he almost resembled a 'cutified' Halloween decoration. He was a lion. Or, at least, he considered himself to be a lion. At present, he was only as tall as a small child, and he walked upright like a human. _He_ hadn't made this change happen, that was for sure. It certainly hadn't made his life any easier.

Darien hadn't always gone by the name 'Darien'; he had begun his life in a cage, and had gone by the name 'Demetrius' for seven years. His mother was a normal lioness, his father was a normal lion, and there was nothing especially remarkable about their son. He grew up under the dubious care of Richard Savage, a cruel ringmaster who forced his animals to live in abysmal conditions. It hadn't been so bad when he was a cub. He had been raised on a bottle, and he and the other cubs that were there got the best food the circus had to offer its big cats. It was only when he hit puberty and began to take an interest in the lionesses that he was moved to a tiny cage that was barely big enough for him, let alone another lion. Males and females - lion, tiger, and leopard - were kept separate as much as possible to avoid any unwanted cubs, and for a social animal such as the lion, it was borderline torture. He _wanted_ to interact with his own kind, he _wanted_ to be with his brothers and sisters, but more than anything he wanted to start a pride of his own.

Years of rough treatment and starvation had turned him vicious and mean, and finally he was simply too violent and dangerous for his keepers to deal with. One day, salvation came in the form of a little - no, a _tiny_ bipedal lion, who came into his isolated tent and started taking pictures. Though he didn't know it, Darien (or Demetrius) was going to be 'put down' that night because he was such a liability to those humans. To be honest, he would have preferred that fate to the one that awaited him. After his 'rescue' from the circus, he found a home in a local zoo. When he had first arrived, he wasn't expected to survive the night. The next day, however, he was on his feet and pacing, vocally challenging the other big cats he both heard and smelled in another enclosure. When he had his health back, the zoo keepers moved him closer to the main enclosure so that he and the other lions could see each other, hoping that the resident males would eventually accept him into their pride. Finally, the humans tried putting him in with them, but the two other males were having none of it. They viciously defended their 'wives' against this intruder, and he had been forced to beat a hasty retreat to the far end of the lion habitat to lick his wounds in peace. He was put back in his isolated cage, and that night a change came over him.

The zoo keepers got quite a shock when they went to check on him early the next morning. They found a creature that _appeared_ to be a lion, but he was way too small and he stood on two legs. Moreover, he was actually shouting abuse at the humans in their own language. He had heard enough profanity in the circus, so his vocabulary was quite immense. He was interrogated for hours, but the only straight answer they got from him was that he had lived there for a little while, and he had done nothing to the 'other' lion. When asked if _he_ was the other lion, he had clapped sarcastically and said "Well done!"

Well, the zoo keepers didn't know what he was, or even if he was telling the truth. They hadn't heard about the Care Bears, as incredible as it seems, and they didn't know what to do with him. From his behavior, both as a normal lion and as a...whatever he was...they didn't feel that it was safe to simply let him go. He was too antisocial, too angry and bitter; if he could talk and grip things with his paws as easily as a human could, they had no idea what else he might be capable of. So they made a few calls, and a week later the lion found himself in a laboratory of some sort. He mentally blocked out most of what happened to him there, but he finally got the idea that if he acted nice and pretended to be friendly, they would let down their guard a little bit.

One night, after having lived in the same cell for a year, he turned the tables on one of his 'friends'. The man's name was Andrew, and he was no longer taking the proper precautions around the prisoner. The lion was able to get close enough to steal the needle from him, and he injected Andrew with the sedative that was meant for him. He didn't worry that it would harm the human. After all, if he himself could bounce back from such an injection, he reasoned that he only had a few minutes before Andrew woke up and called for help. So it was without any qualms of conscience that Darien did what he had to do and left...and he hoped Andrew lost his job for letting him escape.

Getting out was the difficult part. There were cameras everywhere, and it was only through a fluke that he made it out at all. The human who controlled the door locks to the place had suffered a heart attack, and Darien found out through trial and error which button unlocked the door. If Darien had arrived at the door five minutes earlier, he would have been caught and locked up again. And, most likely, he would have been severely punished.

The next few hours were a blur. Darien ran for all he was worth, hiding when he saw any sign that humans were near, and making false trails for the dogs to follow; he knew there were humans after him with dogs, because he could smell them. His feet were cut and bleeding by the time he reached a truck stop, and without hesitation he jumped into the back of a pickup truck and covered himself with the canvas tarp, laying silently between a bag of cement and a coiled-up garden hose. By the time the dogs reached the truck stop, he was long gone; the driver didn't stop for four hours, and Darien eventually found himself living on the streets of a big city. He actually received his new name, Darien, from a homeless man he befriended years ago. It was a symbiotic friendship; Darien would find safe places for them to sleep, and his new friend Samuel would share his food with the lion.

But now, about six years later (though he wasn't sure exactly how long it was), Samuel was dead and he was alone. It was up to him to find his own food.

Turning his head this way and that, his ears perked to catch the slightest sound, Darien padded out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. He paused for several tense moments, listening, smelling the air for any fresh traces of human scent. Finally, satisfied that he was safe for the moment, Darien gave a smile that more closely resembled a sneer. Oh yes, he was safe...Safe to go rooting through peoples' garbage for scraps. It was true that beggars couldn't be choosers, but he would have preferred a meal that didn't present the risk of food poisoning. He had learned to use his sense of smell to distinguish what was safe to eat from what was not, but there was still a risk involved.

Keeping well against the building walls, Darien allowed his nose to guide him to a back alley behind a pizza parlor. He managed to find three quarters of an anchovy pizza that someone had apparently decided to try and had rejected, and he dug in with gusto. It was cold, but fresh; he couldn't believe his good luck! He didn't mind the anchovies at all. That is, he didn't mind them until the smell attracted some unwanted attention.

"Meow."

Darien's head snapped in the direction of the sound as he cursed his carelessness, but he almost laughed when he saw a skinny tortoiseshell cat approaching from the side.

"Meow!"

"S'mine." Darien mumbled around a mouthful, squirreling his food in his left cheek in order to talk, "Git yer own."

The cat raised a paw as if reaching out to the food, but he hissed warningly at it. The cat put its paw back down again, not offended in the least; after all, it understood as well as any stray cat that it was necessary to be possessive with one's food. It calmly sat down and waited for him to either share the food or leave. Darien looked steadily into its eyes, and after a moment of this the cat laid back its ears and gave a surprisingly deep growl.

"No kiddin'!" laughed Darien, showing some measure of mercy by looking the other way. But he still showed no signs of wanting to share. Rather than getting disappointed, the cat slowly crept closer until it was close enough to touch.

And touch it did. It tried to steal Darien's pizza, but it misjudged the grip and bit the lion's paw by mistake.

"Aah!" Darien shook the cat off, cursing, and the little animal streaked under the dumpster. The lion wrung his paw, using terrible language, but when he finally subsided he received a shock; for there under the dumpster he saw _five_ pairs of eyes, not _one_. He met the gaze of one of the four smaller pairs, and a tiny pink mouth opened to release a soft hiss.

So that was why the cat was being so persistent; she had a family who needed that food. Darien tried to resume eating, but he was acutely aware of the scrutiny he was receiving from the cat and her kittens; and his discomfort multiplied tenfold when one of the kittens gave a high-pitched, plaintive "Mew!". Darien's eyes flicked back in their direction, and he gave a long, rumbling groan.

"Aww, bleeding hearts of the world _unite!_" Telling himself that he had pretty much had his fill anyway, Darien tossed the half-eaten pizza like a Frisbee. With much hissing and spitting, the cat family skittered further back to avoid the sailing object, but the pizza stopped just beside the dumpster. A few seconds later a triangular cat face peeked out from under it, and after sniffing the food cautiously the mother cat sank a set of white teeth into the crust, dragging it under and out of sight.

Darien's stomach contracted painfully, and he heaved a disappointed sigh. There was a time when he would have either let those cats starve or made a meal of them as well, but that time had ended when he had transformed. He had long since stopped wondering what was wrong with him. _'If everything else about me got all screwed up,'_ he once reasoned to himself, _'why wouldn't my mind be?'_ It no longer worried him that his conscience sometimes won out over his stomach, but the fact remained that he was still hungry. Darien was about to resume 'dumpster-diving' for his dinner when a voice at the beginning of the alley startled him into a fighting stance.

"I was wondering whether or not you'd share with her." said a small blue bear with a crescent moon shape on his tummy. He was a few inches shorter than Darien, but their similarities were rather striking. Darien had no symbol on his belly, but like the bear he was bipedal and possessed the gift of speech. Of course, this didn't mean that unconditional trust would follow.

"Just who the hell are you?" he demanded, ice-blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The bear seemed a bit surprised, but he offered a friendly smile and an equally friendly reply. "I'm called Bedtime Bear. What's your name?"

"Supposin' I don't wanna tell you?" said the lion as he relaxed a bit and folded his arms, satisfied that this bear was not an _immediate_ threat. In truth, Bedtime was beginning to look nervous; this lion was actually a little taller than Brave Heart, and he didn't seem very friendly.

"Well, I guess that's up to you, but I don't mean you any harm..." said the bear, shifting uncomfortably under the lion's stony glare.

"I'll keep that in mind." Darien said cooly, "How's about clearing out and letting a fella eat in peace?"

Bedtime cocked his head to one side, looking disgusted. "You mean you want to go back to eating _garbage?_"

"Mind your own business!"

Bedtime Bear gulped, wondering if he had touched on a nerve, and tried to look as contrite as possible. "I'm sorry..."

Darien wasn't expecting an apology, or the sudden feeling of shame he got, and it only served to make him more defensive. "What do you _expect?_ I just mosey on into a Burger King and say 'I want a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke'!"

Bedtime shrugged his shoulders. "Well, why not? I do it all the time."

"Got no money, and I hate humans." was the succinct reply.

"Do you hate me?" the bear asked in a small voice.

"I jus' wanna be left _alone_." said Darien with finality. This was making him more uneasy by the minute, and he wanted nothing more than to leave the situation altogether, but the bear was blocking his only exit. He could easily push past him, but there were too many smells around him; he couldn't tell if any humans were nearby. So he simply glared, hoping to intimidate this 'Bedtime Bear' into backing off. Unfortunately, the bear actually seemed to _pity_ him.

"Listen, there's really no reason why you can't have a good meal. Let me - "

"No." Darien said promptly.

"But I only - " Bedtime tried again.

But again, the lion said, "No."

" - want to help." continued Bedtime.

"You _deaf?_ I said _no!_ I don't need anyone's help!" growled Darien, advancing on the bear, who had no choice but to step aside and let him through. As the lion emerged from the alley, a passing taxi cab pulled up sharply to the curb and stopped. The passenger, a young woman, fairly tumbled out of the car in her haste to talk to him.

"Hey, you're a Care Bear Cousin! Can I - " she began, but before she could finish, the lion uttered a vicious curse and fled, his face the very picture of terror. The woman blinked in surprise, and self-consciously adjusted the lapels of her jacket. "Was it something I said?"

"Sorry about that, Miss." apologized Bedtime, who had followed Darien out to the sidewalk, "He's not exactly a member of the Care Bear Family...in fact, I only just met him five minutes ago."

"Oh..."

The cab driver leaned out the window. "'Scuse me lady, the meter's running."

The woman hastily got back into the car, and soon she was gone. Bedtime sighed, and looked in the direction that Darien had taken. He knew that he couldn't force the lion to accept his help, but as unpleasant as he seemed, Bedtime knew he had to keep trying. After pondering for a moment, Bedtime Bear got into his Cloudmobile and headed for the nearest Burger king.

"Welcome to Burger King, may I take your order?" came a static-garbled voice from the speaker. The girl spoke in a monotone and strung all her words together, as if she had repeated this phrase a hundred times and was supremely bored with it.

"You surely may. I'd like two cheeseburgers, two medium orders of fries, and two small Cokes please."

_Next chapter coming soon..._


	2. A New Home?

"Darien"

"Chapter 2: A New Home?"

Duck, run, hide, peek.

Darien did not return to the alley where he had been sleeping; instead he sought out a new place to sleep through the day, just in case he was being followed. At the moment, no thoughts were racing through his mind. All he was aware of were his running feet, his furiously beating heart, and his rapid breathing as he pushed himself to the limits of his endurance. Duck, run, hide, peek...duck, run, hide, peek. Every shadow, every sound was a potential threat.

Finally he became aware that his muscles were beginning to burn with fatigue, and the pizza he had so rapidly consumed just minutes before was churning unhappily within him. He collapsed in yet another alley to recover and to wrestle with his rebelling stomach. The feeling of illness soon passed, but his legs were paying the price for his sudden run. He groaned softly as his leg muscles twitched, and for a long time he couldn't bring himself to move. Even though he had spent most of the day asleep, drowsiness was threatening to overtake him.

That was how Bedtime Bear found him, sprawled half on his belly and half on his side, in a semi-conscious state. The bear quickly set down the food he had brought, and knelt down beside the lion.

"Are you all right?" he asked, laying a paw on his back.

Darien gave a slight start, and glared up at the bear. "How'd you find me?" He brushed off Bedtime's paw.

"It wasn't easy." replied Bedtime, shrugging. "You covered a lot of ground."

Darien snorted, and sat up. There was no getting rid of this stranger now; the lion was too tired to move very far. Besides, he smelled food. But he didn't ask for any of it. He simply gave a resigned sigh and asked, "What do you want from me, bear?"

Bedtime looked at him as if that should have been obvious, and said, "To be your friend."

The look Darien gave him was so incredulous that Bedtime wondered if the word was foreign to him, and he began to explain, "A friend is - "

"I _know_ what a 'friend' is. I even _had_ one once." snapped Darien before gritting his teeth in frustration. He hadn't meant to reveal that. "Point is, I don't _need_ a friend, so buzz off!"

Bedtime held up his paws in surrender, and replied, "My mistake. But _my_ point is, I can't leave until I'm sure you're all right. Besides, I can't finish all of this by myself." he held up the bag of food, and stifled a grin as he heard the lion's stomach growl.

Darien eyed the bag with interest, but suspicion gnawed at him as surely as his hunger did. "Why do you wanna help me?"

"Do I need a reason?" in the silence that ensued, Bedtime nodded. "Okay. I want to help you because I think I can, because I think you need it, and because I don't think you're really as mean as you try to appear to be."

Darien passed a paw over his face, feeling both amused and weary, and nodded. "A'ight, I give. So...what's in the bag?"

When Bedtime divided the food between them, Darien was convinced. Either this bear really did want to help him, or he was a very good liar. Darien picked up his burger and sniffed it first out of habit before taking a large bite. It was no longer hot, and the cheese had long since congealed, but it tasted wonderful. He was so hungry that he couldn't savor it. While he was gobbling down the burger, Bedtime discreetly nudged most of his own fries towards Darien's pile.

"So," said Darien, swallowing, "What kind of name's 'Bedtime Bear' anyway?"

"It has to do with being a member of the Care Bear Family." answered Bedtime, "See, each of us - "

"Wait, back up, what's the 'Care Bear Family'?" asked Darien.

"I was getting to that. Every one of us was originally a regular animal. Well, except for the cubs that were born since then. But most of us were named for our tummy symbols or our personalities. I'm called 'Bedtime Bear' because my work is done at night, helping children who can't sleep or are afraid to sleep. Other than that, I help where I can. I spotted you on the way back from a Mission, and I was wondering how you came to be like us."

Darien quirked an eyebrow. "Like you?"

"A Care Bear Cousin." Bedtime clarified, "That's what we call a member of the Family who's something other than a bear."

"Yah-huh..." Darien mumbled skeptically, eating a few fries, and wondering. Maybe this bear wasn't lying. Maybe he was just insane. But then again, that didn't explain what had happened to change Darien's very shape all those years ago. He still wasn't sure about trusting this bear, but now his curiosity was piqued. He wanted to know more, and he was smart enough to see that the only way he could _learn_ more was to at least attempt to be less unfriendly. "Darien."

"I beg your pardon?" the bear looked up from his meal.

"Name's Darien."

"Oh..." Bedtime nodded, watching as the Darien fumbled with an uncooperative ketchup packet. The lion was muttering imprecations under his breath, and he even tried to tear the packet with his teeth.

Bedtime gave a rather strained smile, unused to hearing one of his own kind using such language; the worst he had heard any of his Family say was the occasional 'damn'. That was an _extreme_ rarity, like a full solar eclipse, and it was always followed by an extremely embarrassed apology. "Nice to meet you..." he said, which wasn't entirely untrue, but something would eventually have to be done abut this lion's potty mouth. "How long have you been living out here?"

Darien shrugged. "Not sure. I've known six winters out here, but never kept a calendar or anything."

"Hm..." Bedtime chewed the inside of his cheek, looking troubled. "I wonder why we didn't find you long before this..."

"Huh?" Darien glanced up briefly, still wrestling with the ketchup packet.

"It's just...The Caring Meter, which lets us know when we have a Mission or when there's trouble, ought to have let us know about you. Or maybe even the Great Wishing Star..." Bedtime frowned, "Then again, maybe they _did_, and we just didn't get the message...Though that seems a bit unlikely, doesn't it?"

The lion was looking at the blue bear like he suspected he had slipped a gear or six, and replied, "That whole thing you just _said_ sounds unlikely to me!" As he said this the ketchup packet suddenly ripped, squirting him in the face. "Grrrah! Crap..."

Bedtime snickered and handed him a napkin. "Well, why don't you come up to Care-a-Lot with me, and tomorrow you can meet the rest of the Family."

"Whoa, hold up. I appreciate the food and all, but you're talkin' crazy. 'Great Wishing Star'? 'Caring Meter'? Tch...Thanks, but _no_ thanks. I'd rather try my luck on the streets."

Bedtime was disappointed, but he knew he couldn't force him. All the same, he didn't feel right about letting Darien continue to live on what he scrounged from garbage cans and dumpsters. Then an idea came to him. "If I can prove to you that I'm telling the truth, would you be willing to come with me?"

"Guess so..."

"I just hope this works...I've never tried something like this before." And so saying, Bedtime Bear turned to face one of the brick walls.

"Something like what?" asked Darien, his eyes darting towards the entrance to the alley as if to make sure he had a clear escape route, just in case this was some kind of trick.

But Bedtime was concentrating too hard to answer. For a moment his tummy symbol simply glowed white. Then a panoramic image of the Kingdom of Caring briefly projected itself on the wall before the bear sat down wearily.

Darien attempted to keep his expression neutral, but his wide eyes betrayed him. "Okay...I'm not drunk, and I'm not _that_ crazy. What was _that?_"

"That..." said Bedtime, who was still trying to catch his breath, "was a Care Bear Stare."

* * *

Bedtime landed his car directly in front of the Hall of Hearts, and Darien half-slithered out of the passenger seat to sit, panting, on the clouds. The blue bear got out and hurried around the front of the car to check on him. "Are you okay?" 

"Nyumm..." Darien mumbled, giving his head a shake.

"Darien?" Bedtime prompted him.

Darien shook himself, and got quickly to his feet. "Of course I'm okay! I just...had too much to eat, I'm not used to it."

"Oh. Well...You're going to sleep here tonight." Bedtime indicated the heart-shaped building, and led him inside. "We have a few guest rooms here; they were added on when we started getting new members. This way, if we find someone during the night, they'll have a place to sleep. I'll tell Noble Heart Horse about you early tomorrow, and he'll take it from there; I'm not much use during the day."

Darien nodded uncertainly, staring suspiciously at his surroundings as if expecting an attack or some kind of trick. When a little Star Buddy flew up to investigate him, he tried to bat it away with a growl.

"Oh, it won't hurt you." Bedtime said quickly.

"What _is _that?" asked Darien, restraining himself this time when it swooped in again and hovered in front of his face. He was surprised when the little thing squeaked in disgust and flew away. "What's the deal?"

"Um..." Bedtime hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. '_There's really no easy way to tell someone that they stink!_' he thought.

Fortunately, he didn't need to. Darien gave his armpit a sniff, and actually blushed a little. "Oh...It's me."

"I'll show you where you can take care of that." said Bedtime, leading the way. They entered a small bedroom, and Bedtime opened a door at the other end of it and turned on the light. "There's soap and shampoo in here...I trust you know what they're for."

"I'll figure it out." Darien said curtly, sidestepping the bear and shutting the door in his face.

"Um...right." Bedtime nodded, walking out of the room to give him his privacy.

* * *

Late the next morning, while hovering somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, Darien slowly realized that he was warmer than he should have been if he was sleeping on the ground. It took a moment for him to realize that he wasn't sleeping in a nest of old newspapers, and that it wasn't the smell of aging garbage that filled his nostrils, but that of clean sheets. Even Darien himself smelled fresh and clean, having had his first shower the night before, and he had to admit it was a nice change. His black mane was still matted because he had been too tired (or too lazy) to comb it the night before, but it was clean for the first time in...well, he didn't know how long. 

Darien opened his eyes, and found himself looking at the pastel-blue walls of one of the guest bedrooms at the Hall of Hearts. He wrinkled his nose in distaste, and got out of bed. Before he had been put up for the night, he was told that someone called 'Noble Heart' would be by sometime tomorrow to help him out. Well, tomorrow had become today, and so far no one had come by. This suited Darien just fine, because as nice as it had been to sleep in a _real_ bed for a change, Darien wasn't so sure he _wanted_ to join this so-called 'Care Bear Family'. For one thing, the mere idea just seemed too corny for him. For another, he wasn't too keen on the idea of living on clouds and helping _humans_. He was thinking about changing his mind, but there was just one problem, which became evident when he peered out the window. "How am I gonna get _down?_"

As far as he could tell, there was no way to get down to Earth on his own. He would rather jump down than ride in one of those Cloudmobile things again. During the ride up to Care-a-Lot, he had nearly tossed his cookies.

He had just made up his mind to set out on his own and see if there was _some_ sort of easy way down to Earth when there was a soft tap on the door. Cursing softly under his breath, Darien turned to face whoever was there. "Yeah?"

The door opened and in walked a purple horse, of all things. Darien was half tempted to laugh, but this newcomer possessed such an air of cool maturity that he found himself avoiding his gaze instead. "Are you that 'Noble Heart' guy I heard about?"

The horse smiled in a friendly manner, and nodded. "That's me. And you're Darien, I presume. Interesting name...how did you come by it?"

Having no desire to discuss personal details about his past, Darien gave an elusive shrug and mumbled, "I dunno..."

Noble Heart was sort of expecting this kind of attitude, having heard a bit from a now-sleepy Bedtime Bear, so he decided not to press him just now. "Yes you do. You just don't want to tell me, and that's fine. It's nice to meet you."

Now Darien was suspicious. "You're not gonna bug me to know?"

"No. Why? Is it something you're ashamed of?" asked Noble Heart, partly in jest, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

Darien snorted, and shook his head. "No..."

Noble Heart held up a hand, and shook his head. "It's okay, really; I'm not one to pry, and I don't expect you to trust us so quickly. I'd actually be surprised if you did."

"Whatever..." said Darien, wishing this horse would shut up. It had been so long since Darien had really spoken with anyone, and he was extremely out of practice. And he was hungry.

As if he had read Darien's mind, Noble Heart said, "I came to bring you to the cafeteria for some breakfast. Are you hungry?"

The lion shrugged. "I can eat..."

* * *

"Chance, what is the matter with you?" sighed Regal Heart, plucking a baseball cap from her son's head to reveal a severe case of hat hair. 

"I'm a victim of 'coicumstance', nyuk nyuk nyuk!" he answered, pouring milk on his Lucky Charms.

Connie snorted behind her magazine. "Goober..."

By now, Regal and Stellar were pretty much used to the halfway-affectionate name-calling between these two, so neither of them so much as batted an eye. Faith Heart, who was out of diapers but not yet in 'preschool', asked, "Daddy, what's a goober?"

Stellar sat down at the breakfast table, carrying a mug of coffee with extra cream, and replied, "It's those chocolate-covered peanuts they sell at the movies...but I think in this case it means 'goofball' or something like that."

Chance pretended to be hurt. "You mean, all this time she _hasn't_ been calling me a chocolate-covered peanut? Woe is me! I'm a sweet feller, aren't I?"

"And no name-calling, you guys." Stellar continued as an afterthought, "Set an example, please. Last week she called Brave Heart 'Mr. Stinky Drool-face'...Stop laughing, Chance, it's not funny."

"Yes it is..." said Chance, but a look from his mother put an end to his giggles.

"We goin' to the movies?" asked Faith, not quite understanding.

"Not today, sweetheart." said Regal, finally sitting down with her own breakfast. "Noble Heart called this morning and said a new Cousin is probably joining the Family."

Stellar peered sleepily at his wife over the rim of his coffee mug. "That's the first _I've_ heard about it. When was this?"

Pace, who had been keeping so quiet that they actually seemed to have forgotten he was there, said, "When you were singing 'Piano Man' in the shower."

"Oh..." Stellar blushed, looking back at Regal. "So, what did Noble Heart tell you about the newbie?"

"Ooh, I bet it's a _girl!_" sang Chance, coaxing a laugh from Connie.

Regal swallowed a mouthful of buttered toast, and shook her head. "Sorry, Chance. It's a male." she smiled a bit at his disappointed groan, and continued, "He's a lion, and Noble Heart says his name is Darien."

"Darien?" Chance asked, sounding incredulous, "Almost_ sounds _like a girl's name to me."

"No, it's a guy's name." said Hope, "I wonder if he'll keep this name or want to change it..."

Connie winked at her. "Hey Hopie, maybe you'll finally meet your 'Prince Charming', fall madly in _luuuuuve_, and live happily ever after."

She chose a bad time to say this, for Stellar had just taken a sip of his coffee. The tiger choked, spluttered, and turned away to cough into his paw. Little Faith slipped from her chair to pound him on the back, and Regal handed him some napkins.

"Are you all right, Stel?" she asked.

"Fine..." he wheezed, wiping his mouth and clearing his throat.

"All better, Daddy?" asked Faith. "I helped?"

"Yeah, you helped." he had to smile, "Thank you."

"Sheesh..." Connie shook her head and turned the page, only to have Regal take the magazine and put it aside. "Mom!"

"No reading at the table." said Regal. "You know the rule."

"Fine..." Connie sighed, helping herself to some toast.

Stellar coughed one final time, and took a long drink from his coffee mug. '_I have a really bad feeling about this..._'

_To Be Continued..._


	3. An Old Acquaintance

"Darien"

"Chapter 3: An Old Acquaintance"

"But _Mommy,_ I don't _wanna_ wear a jacket!" whined Faith, squirming as her mother grasped her little left paw and drew it through the sleeve of a pink fleece jacket for the third time that morning. As soon as Regal had it zipped, Faith unzipped it again.

"_No,_ Faith." Regal said firmly, zipping up the jacket once more and quickly picking up her squirming cub. "It's forty degrees out. You need a jacket."

"I don't _like_ it!" Faith protested, paying no attention to the scenery as her little family headed towards the Hall of Hearts.

"Do you like having a cold?" asked Regal.

"Mm-mmm..." Faith shook her head.

"Then you need a jacket." Regal said with finality.

"Okay, I like it, I like it..." mumbled Faith, resting her chin on Regal's shoulder.

"There's a good girl." Regal kissed her cheek, and adjusted her grip on her daughter. "You're getting heavy."

"Takes after Connie..." Chance whispered to Pace, who didn't look at all impressed.

"I _heard_ that!" Connie said warningly.

"Stop it, now." said Stellar, "We're here. First impressions are the most important."

"Potty..." Faith whispered in Regal's ear, and the lioness's tail gave an agitated twitch.

"Honey, why didn't you go when I told you, before we left?" she asked.

"Didn't have to then..." said Faith.

Regal sighed as they entered the Hall, and said to her husband, "You go on ahead, we'll be right back."

Stellar nodded, and scanned the room for an unfamiliar face. He didn't have to search for long; the new Cousin was pretty hard to miss. For one thing, he was the only one in the room who had a rather forbidding expression on his face. For another, he was large for a Care Bear Cousin, and his orange and black fur stood out in stark contrast to the pastel pelts of the others. The tiger's left ear rotated back, and he twitched his tail in a clear expression of uncertainty. '_Do I know him from somewhere?_' he thought.

Connie glanced at the new lion, her expression one of detached curiosity, then went to join Tugs at their usual table. Pace, as usual, gave no indication as to what he was thinking, so it was anyone's guess what his opinion was at the moment. Chance, unsurprisingly, walked right over to introduce himself.

"Hey, I'm Chance Heart Liger, nice to meet ya!" Chance stuck out his paw for a handshake, and Darien stared hard at it for a moment before reaching out to clasp it. Chance clenched his teeth as his knuckles cracked, and rubbed his aching paw when Darien let go. "Good grip! Remind me never to tick you off!" Chance grinned.

"Never tick me off." Darien said, completely deadpan, and took a big bite of his french toast. Barely bothering to chew it, he quickly swallowed and said, "Liger, huh?"

"Yup." Chance nodded, "Actually, I'm a tigon, but my parents liked the sound of 'liger' better."

The lion showed his disinterest by returning to his meal without a reply.

"Um..." Chance nervously tapped his fingertips together, and turned around. "Oh, there's my father now. _Dad! Come on over!_"

Several heads turned, and Stellar resisted the urge to groan.

"Subtle he is not..." muttered Pace.

Darien continued to stuff his face as Stellar approached, but he looked up when the tiger came to a dead stop and sniffed a couple times.

'_I know that smell..._' Stellar thought, having caught a faint, familiar scent. His nose, while not nearly as sensitive as it had been when he was a normal tiger, was still more sensitive than a human's. He realized that he had met this individual before. And he was not at all pleased. The fur on the back of his neck and shoulders stood up like porcupine quills, his ears flattened to the point where they could hardly be seen from the front, and, most surprisingly, he drew back his lips and let out a long, angry hiss.

Pace looked appalled by his father's behavior, and Tender Heart gasped.

"Stellar!" Tender Heart whispered, warningly. "What's gotten into you?"

Darien suddenly threw back his head and laughed. "Well, if it ain't the biggest wuss in the Big Top! Still afraid of fire, then?"

Stellar bared his teeth, remembering the time the ringmaster had hit him with a burning torch. "You know why..."

"This your old man, Chance Heart Liger? I might have guessed he'd be living a cushy life somewhere, found a lady, while I been scraping for food on the streets." Darien gave an icy smile, and looked Stellar in the eye. "So...Lysander made it big, eh?"

"My _name_," Stellar said coldly, "is _Stellar Heart._"

"Shoulda stuck with 'Lysander', if ya ask me." said Darien.

"I _didn't_ ask you, _Demetrius._" snarled the tiger. The amused glint in Darien's eyes immediately turned murderous, and Chance got between them.

"All right, gentlemen, to your corners. Jeesh, Dad, if Mom saw you acting like this..." Chance began, but was cut off by a small, quiet voice.

"Daddy?" whimpered Faith, looking frightened as she clung to her mother's back like a baby koala.

Stellar's ears slowly went up to half-mast, then went all the way back again as a wave of shame washed over him. "Regal, I...Faith..." he reached out for his daughter, but the cub hid her face and began to cry.

"Nooooooo..." she whined, flinching away from him.

Regal didn't look at all happy, but getting angry now would only make things worse. She nodded to Stellar, signaling that he should back off, and the tiger meekly did so.

Darien, for his part, was wishing he had kept his mouth shut. He hadn't had anything to do with children before, but he didn't quite like the fact that he had helped to frighten one. Faith peeked out, staring wide-eyed at the lion. When she saw him looking at her she whimpered again, but didn't look away. Darien cleared his throat, and tried his best to look as unthreatening as possible. With a great effort, he swallowed his pride and said something he was not at all used to saying. "Sorry, kid...I ain't gonna hurt anyone..."

"You won't hurt my daddy?" she asked.

Darien was feeling more ashamed by the minute, and lowered his gaze. "Nah..."

Nearly everyone else was looking at Stellar Heart, most of them with reproachful frowns, but Hope was looking at Darien. From the start of the argument she was sure she wouldn't like this lion, but she was beginning to change her mind. He was rude, prideful, and combative, that much was apparent. But he also had a conscience, which meant he was redeemable. '_If he lived on the streets,_' she thought to herself, '_what kind of life could he have had? How many horrible things did he witness?_'

Darien's eyes turned to her, and she quickly looked down at the ground. The lion stared at her for a moment, then gave her a slow, appraising smile as he looked her up and down. '_Now, here's a pretty one...It's a shame she's half tiger..._' he thought. Hope didn't see the look, but Stellar did.

'_Oh no..._' he thought suppressing a moan of dread, '_No, no, no, no, no..._'

_Author's Note: Sorry for such a short chapter, but I think the only way I'll be able to finish this is if I break it into small chapters. Plus, I wanted to get this up by my 24th birthday! ;) More to come, and hopefully it'll be a shorter wait than the last one._


	4. A Fragile Truce

"Darien"

_Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update, but I had a small case of writer's block. Soulful Heart Fox belongs to NebulaBelt._

"Chapter 4: A Fragile Truce"

Regal's expression was grim as she passed Faith over to Pace and herded her husband to the far end of the room. The tiger went willingly enough; he accepted the fact that he had been out of line, and he wanted to get as far away from Darien as possible. Besides, he knew he had some explaining to do. When they were far enough away from the others, Regal turned to him and spoke. "Just what possessed you to go off on him like that?"

Stellar, for once, gave no ground. He folded his arms and put on a stubborn expression. "You heard the way he spoke to me. I don't have to take that."

"No, but unless I'm mistaken, you _did_ start it." she retorted, placing her paws on her hips. "So, what brought it on?"

He sighed, hunching his shoulders a little. "Well...I knew him."

Regal had heard them address each other by their former names, so she wasn't at all surprised. "Did something happen between you two to make you dislike each other?"

Stellar avoided her eyes as he answered her. "A lot of things contributed to it...But I'm not sure how to put it."

"Give it a try." she urged.

Stellar looked up and took her elbow in a gentle grip, leading her outside to the pink-and-white picnic tables. They sat down, and he tapped his fingers on the pink painted tabletop before he spoke again. "It's really nothing _big_, nothing terrible, but..."

Regal frowned at her husband's paw, beginning to grow annoyed. "Stellar..." she said warningly.

He stopped his tapping and looked up, then tucked his paws under his armpits. "Well, see...Tigers - that is, normal tigers - aren't really that social. I prefer company to solitude, normally, but I wasn't always like that. Lions are more social, at least to a point..." he looked up, and she nodded. She knew all that. He continued. "To begin with, we were two territorial males who were kept too close to each other. While we didn't own any 'territory' to speak of, we still saw each other as encroachers. I avoided confrontations...and he seemed to invite them. He was horrible, always snarling and baring his teeth, making cheap shots when the trainers weren't looking..."

"You two...fought each other, then?" she asked hesitantly.

He sighed again. "More like he mopped up the floor with me. He was older and bigger, and it was only when I was barely an adult that I managed to escape the circus and join the Care Bear Family...It only came to blows once or twice, but those times were enough. I...I was terrified of him, Regal..."

Regal nodded, and patted his arm. "Okay...I can see why you wouldn't be happy to see him..." she didn't acknowledge her husband's snort, "But you're not normal animals anymore. You're a Care Bear Cousin, and like it or not so is he. You're both sentient, intelligent beings - "

"If he's intelligent, I'm a mongoose." grumbled Stellar. Regal continued as if he hadn't interrupted.

"And your 'greeting' was really uncalled for."

He looked at her as if she had in some way betrayed him. "How was it uncalled for, after the things he did to me?"

"Well," she said, "for one thing, he didn't do anything to you _this_ time, at least until you hissed in his face. For another, how would you react if someone did that to you?"

"Regal, he's not _right!_ When I knew him in the circus, he was practically insane!" he hissed, not wanting to raise his voice and attract attention. "He scared Faith - yes, I know I had a hand in that - "

"He apologized." Regal pointed out.

"Not to me, he didn't!" Stellar shot back.

Regal sighed and ran a paw down her face. "Stel, I'm not making excuses for him. His behavior _was_ pretty bad, but you have to remember he was never taught what was right. And you were."

"Well, yes..." he reluctantly admitted.

"And the fact that he _did_ apologize to Faith is a good sign. I'm not saying you have to give him a hug and a pat on the back, but I'm asking you to at least give him a chance to prove himself." she said.

The tiger nodded in agreement, though every fiber of his being screamed out against it. '_I saw the look he gave Hope...If he so much as smiles at her in a way I don't like, I'll..._'

He cut off his train of thought, not wanting to get himself in a worse mood than he was already in. It was out of his hands, and he would have to just stand back and see what would unfold. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't watch his daughter like a hawk. '_If that lion doesn't behave himself, the gloves come off..._'

* * *

Darien, meanwhile, was being introduced to some other members of the Care Bear Family. The little tiff with Lysander - or _Stellar Heart_, as he now called himself...of all the stupid names! - had amused the lion, and he decided that staying for a little while just might be fun after all. The warm bed and fresh hot breakfast certainly beat anything he could have found on the streets. He grudgingly shook hands with Tender Heart and everyone else he was introduced to, though that particular custom put him ill at ease. All the while, his eyes kept straying to the pretty striped female he had seen earlier. What was her name? He tried to remember, then realized that he had never heard her name spoken. He would have to ask her later.

"And this is Soulful Heart Fox. Soulful Heart, this is Darien." said Noble Heart, by way of introduction.

Darien saw at once that the fox didn't much care for him, and this prompted him to smirk and stick out his paw for a handshake; the action contrasted with all the handshakes he had performed up until then, because he had always been the one to reluctantly accept them, rather than willingly offer one. "Always glad to meet a fellow sourpuss." said Darien.

The fox looked at Darien's paw as if it were some slimy dead thing, and declined to shake hands with him by clasping his own paws behind his back. "No you're not. You're glad of the opportunity to ridicule me, though what I did to deserve it is beyond my ability to comprehend."

Darien's eyes dilated, and he abruptly burst out laughing. The top of this creature's head barely reached his chest, and yet he had the gall to give this lion cheek! Darien clapped him on the shoulder - hard enough to sting, though this wasn't intentional - and said, "Hey, you're all right!"

"Ahem," Noble Heart steered Darien in another direction, leading him away from the hapless fox, who was rubbing his shoulder and glaring balefully after the lion.

Connie walked over to Soulful, and rested her elbow on his other shoulder. "Charming fella, huh?" she drawled.

Soulful looked at her elbow, then looked up at her. "Connie, do I look like an elbow rest to you?" he demanded.

Connie saw that he wasn't exactly in the mood to joke around, and removed her elbow. "Sorry." she said, and when he grunted back she continued, "How's your other arm? I saw him clock you one."

"Oh, fine and dandy." he grumbled, heading for the door. "_Excuse_ me."

Noble Heart brought Darien over to Brave Heart and introduced them, and Darien narrowed his eyes a little. Brave Heart looked vaguely worried when Darien fixed him with a hard stare, and after a rather tense moment Brave Heart asked, "Um...something wrong?"

"Nooo..." Darien said uncertainly, cocking his head to one side. "But I think I've seen you before."

Brave Heart smiled at that, and said, "Well, that's because you have. Only you were a lot bigger then."

Darien scratched his chin and nodded. "Yeah...you were that li'l dude who came into the tent and took pictures of me. Didn't know what you were doin' at the time, though. All I knew was I didn't like the flash."

"That's why you attacked the bars, huh?" asked Brave Heart, trying to make conversation.

"No." Darien replied, "I attacked the bars cuz I felt like crap and I wanted to be left alone."

"Eh..." Brave Heart blinked, mildly taken aback, but recovered quickly. "So...um...what have you been doing with yourself since then?"

"Nothin'." said Darien.

"I mean, how'd you get to be like us?" Brave Heart asked, "Where were you living before Bedtime Bear found you? How come we didn't find you sooner?"

Darien felt his patience beginning to dwindle. He folded his arms and looked down at the floor. His past wasn't something he wished to discuss on a first meeting, or any other meeting for that matter. "I don't know, none of your business, and maybe you got careless."

Brave Heart's jaw dropped, and it was a wonder his eyes didn't pop out of his skull. "B...Wh..._Is that so?_"

Noble Heart quickly got between them, casting a stern look on Darien and whispering to Brave Heart, "I know he seems to be lacking in social graces, but he hasn't learned any better. Don't take offence so soon, or we won't get anywhere with him. As a leader, you'll have to try extra hard to keep your temper, even if he loses his."

Brave Heart grumbled a bit, but nodded. "Seems I crossed a line I didn't know about, Darien. Sorry." he said stiffly.

Darien merely shrugged and turned away, stopping when Noble Heart put a paw on his shoulder. He stiffened in annoyance; he didn't like having his personal space invaded, and this had happened so many times during the past hour that he had lost count. Noble Heart picked up on his discomfort, and removed his paw before speaking.

"Have you given any thought to joining our Family, Darien?" he asked, and Darien was mildly intrigued that the 'f' in 'family' seemed to be capitalized, even in speech. The lion supposed this gave the word some sort of importance, though the importance of family eluded him. He saw no reason why any family, let alone _this_ one, should start with a capital letter. He couldn't read very well, but he at least knew the alphabet, and he knew the difference between upper-case and lower-case letters. This was only a passing observation, and Noble Heart wasn't even aware of it.

"I dunno..." Darien began, then trailed off when he saw the pretty female liger he'd had his eye on approaching him. "But I'm thinkin' about it." he continued, unconsciously running a paw through his mane, then wincing in shame when his fingers snagged in a rat's nest of tangles. '_Sure, I _had _to pick today to be a lazy slug..._' he berated himself.

Hope's ears were pinned, a sure sign of nervousness, and she slowly raised her head as if it she found it difficult to do so. "Hello, Darien. I'm Hopeful Heart Liger, but most people call me Hope. How do you like it here so far?"

"Ummmm..." Darien critically eyed his surroundings, and answered her quite honestly. "Kinda looks like a rainbow threw up, but it's beats the streets."

Hope snickered, and shrugged. "Well, I happen to like it, but I know pastels aren't everybody's thing."

"Nuh-uh." he said emphatically. "Seems a little too...I dunno...It's almost _creepy_. And the way everyone's like 'hi, nice to meetcha, gimme a hug'...brrrr..." he shuddered.

The liger's smile faltered, and she did her best not to show that she was insulted. "I'm sure it'll take some getting used to, should you decide to stay..."

Darien smirked down at her. "Well, not _everything_ about this place gives me the creeps..."

"Oh?" she looked unsure.

"Yeah." he said, "As long as I get to see more of _your_ pretty face, I wouldn't mind stayin'."

Hope blushed and looked away, and Stellar laid back his ears and clenched his teeth behind rigid lips. '_Quite a smoothie..._' thought the tiger, looking absolutely disgusted, '_He's definitely a smoothie...Who would have thought? I think I'm about to be sick..._'

"You _do _want to join our Family?" asked Noble Heart.

Darien peeled his eyes away from Hope long enough to take in her father's glare, and gave a sadistic smile. "Yeah. I'll stay."

'_Of course..._' thought Stellar, rolling his eyes heavenward.

"Then it's time to give you your tummy symbol." announced the horse.

"My what?" Darien covered his stomach; he pretty much knew what they meant, since he was the only one there with a totally white belly, but he had no desire to wear a pretty pastel heart or anything too stupid-looking. He liked his looks just fine the way they were.

Tender Heart approached him. "It's part of who we are. Our tummy symbols usually represent an aspect of our personalities..."

"I remember now. That Bedtime guy explained last night. But I don't want one." said Darien.

Tender Heart wasn't sure how to proceed, but Hope spoke up.

"Our tummy symbols are special, and they're important. We can make things with them, if we have the energy for it. And you'll be able to defend yourself a lot better with one than without one." she said, sensing that this aspect of it might interest him.

"Really...How?" he asked.

"Well...Let's say someone's coming towards you, wanting to attack you. If you send a Cousin Call at them - " she demonstrated by sending a Call at the wall, leaving it undamaged, " - it won't hurt them, but it'll distract them long enough for you to get away. Or it might even make them change their minds about attacking. We also use them as weapons against evil, but only as a last resort. We try to appeal to the good in people."

"You think people are good?" he asked her, in a way that wasn't quite a challenge.

"Many people are. There's good and evil in everyone, it's just a question of degree." she replied. "Will you let Tender Heart give you your symbol?"

_Now_ she was challenging him, and if he backed down from that challenge he would lose face. He narrowed his eyes a little, but nodded. '_Smart little thing..._'

Tender Heart stepped forward again, and sent a beam of rainbow-colored light at Darien. The lion stood stock still, forcing himself to keep a straight face as a tickling sensation graced his belly, and in an instant it was over. He looked down, and instead of seeing a pastel shape like he'd expected, he saw something quite different. On his tummy was a large black heart. Within the heart was a smaller red star, and inside the star was a little white heart. "Well, that isn't too bad..." he said, sounding like he was admitting something to himself.

"What a symbol..." Stellar said flatly, his voice low so that only Regal heard it.

Regal herself was rather intrigued. '_Black heart, red star, white heart. I wonder what it means. It conforms to us, and yet it doesn't. No one else here has black as the main color of their symbol. A tiny white heart...white is usually used to represent the power of good...Black could either mean evil or nothingness, I suppose. Red? I don't know. Neutrality, maybe? Hm. Whatever it all means, I can see one thing at least. This guy is in conflict with himself. I've already seen bad behavior from him. And he seems to be reserving judgment about a lot of things; neutrality. It also seems like he _wants_ to do the right thing; he apologized for scaring Faith...Good. Bah...I'm reading too much into this. Heck, maybe the colors are only meant to match his _fur_, for all I know!_' Regal Heart chuckled to herself, and shook her head.

"What's so funny?" demanded Stellar.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking too much, I guess." she said.

"Hm..." he sighed, putting his arm around her.

"All right, gang!" called Noble Heart, "We have a party to set up for."

Pace winced, but didn't comment. '_Noble Heart, you ended your sentence in a preposition...Okay, stop that, Pace. You're being overly-critical again._'

Hope licked her lips and drew in a breath to ask Darien a question, when she felt her father's paw on her shoulder. "Daddy?"

"I just want to talk to you, Hopie." he said, leading her away from Darien, who mouthed the tiger's words then stuck out his tongue.

Hope went to the other end of the room with her father, looking puzzled. "What's up?"

"Listen, Hope...You know you're my daughter and I love you, right?" Stellar asked earnestly.

"Yeeees...?" she drew out the word, looking even more confused than before.

"Then you'll understand that I'm only saying this because I care about you...I want you to avoid him." he said.

"But why?"

'_Why? Why...gotta think up a good reason, and quick..._' he thought. "Because...he's really not the nicest sort of guy, and I don't trust him."

"So I noticed." she said. "I don't trust him either, not completely. That would be stupid. I just met him. But if he isn't given a chance to show that he _can_ be good, he'll only prove you right."

"He'll prove me right either _way_." he said desperately, putting his paws on her shoulders and leaning in close. "Hope, I want you to stay _away_ from him! He was cruel enough in the circus as a normal animal, but back then he didn't know any better. He's spent years on the streets, who knows what he's seen?"

"Exactly!" she said, but he gently put a paw to her mouth.

"Hope...I know what you're trying to say, but please try to understand what _I'm_ saying. A hard life can either make a person stronger, or it can make a person mean. Until we're sure what his life has turned him into, I think you should keep your distance."

Hope waited until he took his paw from her mouth, and she caught it between her own paws. "Daddy...I _do_ understand. But what if you're wrong? What if keeping our distance is the wrong choice? If we don't give him a chance, he'll feel like he isn't accepted...and he'll just be even more abrasive than he is now. I admit it, he does have a bad attitude. But maybe that's why he's _here,_ to be helped, to be given a chance to better himself."

Stellar felt his resolve drain out of him, and he realized that she had a very good point. He sighed, and hugged her. "All right. We'll give him a chance. But do me a favor."

"Yes?" she asked.

"Until you're sure about his character...no, until _I'm_ sure...don't go anywhere alone with him. We don't know him, and I don't trust him. He'll have his chance, but I want you to be _safe_, do you understand me?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do. But I think you're worrying over nothing."

"Maybe." he said. "Maybe not. Until we know - "

"I _know_." she said, backing away and heading back to the others.

Stellar watched her go, heaving a deep sigh. '_I hope you do, Hopie..._'

_To Be Continued..._


	5. Brotherly Advice

"Darien"

_Author's Note: This chapter would have been up sooner, but my grandmother passed away on May 18th, and after being so busy with family stuff I just haven't felt like doing much of anything. I've decided to try to veer towards humor rather than conflict this time around, and hopefully put poor Darien in a few silly situations. Someone expressed concern about Darien's cursing, but not to worry. He will eventually (somewhat) get out of the habit, and what little there is that is said specifically will be toned down and rather tame. I'm trying to stay away from actual cursing while getting it across that Darien has a bit of a potty mouth in the beginning. _

_I can't think of a better way to cheer up than to write something funny, can you? This one's for you, Nana..._

"Chapter 5: Brotherly Advice"

"So..." Hope said brightly as she rejoined Darien.

The lion, who hadn't taken his eyes off her since her father led her away, looked down at her with a smirk. "So..."

Hope fidgeted a little bit, privately scolding herself for sounding so lame. '_Come on, Hope, you're acting even more shy than Gentle Heart does! Say something intelligent...Say something intelligent...'_

"Anything interesting happen while I was away?" she asked, grinning stupidly. '_D'oh!_'

Fortunately, Darien didn't seem to notice. "Not really. But why's that monkey putting hot sauce in the punch bowl?" he casually pointed, and Playful Heart hid the bottle behind his back and sidled off.

"To ruin my life." she said, equally casually. "Excuse me, I better go warn Treat Heart about the punch before someone drinks it..."

"Yep." he said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, seeming perfectly content to stand there by himself and watch the proceedings from afar.

Chance snagged his sister's arm as she headed for the snack table, pulled her into a headlock, and gave her a noogie. "Whatcha up to, dear sister mine?"

Hope pursed her lips in annoyance and ducked out of her brother's grasp, smoothing her headfur as she turned to face him. "Chance, I've asked you not to do that..."

"Sorry," he chuckled, "but I just happened to notice the looks you and Darien keep giving each other. Kinda nauseating, actually."

Hope blushed and gave him a light cuff upside the head, though she doubted he felt it through his mane. "Wise guy! Listen, Chance, I already got this lecture from Dad, and I - "

"_What_ lecture?" asked Chance, looking hurt, "It's obvious you're interested in this guy, but if you let it show too soon you'll just scare him off."

Connie, who had been listening in, gave him a light shove from behind so that he had to correct his balance before he could reply. "And I suppose you're the expert on girls now, are you?" she smirked, "You still stick straws up your nose to imitate a walrus when you've had too much sugar."

Chance, ever the good-natured giver or receiver of a joke, flashed her a toothy grin. "Still makes _you_ laugh, doesn't it?"

Connie avoided responding to that, and looked at Hope. "You do what you wanna do, Hopie. But don't be afraid to stand up for yourself if he offends you."

Hope, who had been waiting patiently for these two to finish their banter session, nodded wearily. She was turning to leave when Chance stopped her again and whispered in her ear.

"Listen, if you ever need me to put this guy in the 'hot seat'..." he trailed off, and she gasped as his tummy gave a brief red flash.

"Are you _crazy?_" she hissed, "Someone might see! You _don't _use your power in public!" Hope had gone so pale that the smile immediately vanished from Chance's face, and his whiskers drooped. Without another word, Hope stalked off towards the powder room to collect herself.

Connie shook her head and walked off, and Chance's shoulders slumped as he sighed. "I'm such a moron...Ack!" he jumped as a strong paw gripped his shoulder from behind.

"I hope that's not true, cuz I don't make deals with morons." Darien said under his breath, so that only Chance could hear.

"Huh? Deals?" Chance turned, rubbing his shoulder and frowning. He didn't like being caught off guard. At least, not by someone who might or might not turn out to be hostile.

Darien looked supremely uncomfortable, his eyes shifting this way and that as he leaned in further. "It's about your sister, Hopeful Heart."

"What about her?" Chance asked guardedly.

Darien sighed, "I hate doing this...But I suppose I don't know much about females. I tried talkin' to her like I saw human males do, but..." he shrugged, managing to look both gruff and helpless at the same time. "Well, I'm getting nowhere. What the hell am I doing wrong?"

'_What _aren't_ you doing wrong?_' thought Chance before he said, "Well, the cursing, for one thing. Stop it."

"Huh?" Darien blinked, then glared. "You tellin' me what to do, how to talk?"

"Look, do you want my sister to like you or not? Most girls are turned off by the language, so you wanna try and curb it. Besides, it doesn't sound good, coming from a Care Bear Cousin. We work with little kids. How would you like to have it on your record that a five-year-old got in trouble with his parents for saying a bad word he heard from you?" Chance pointed out.

"They'll hear 'em anyhow..." mumbled Darien.

"That's true, they will. It stinks, but they will. But they don't have to hear them at such an early age, do they?"

Darien was puzzled. "What difference does it make _when_ they hear 'em? And what do kids have to do with _me?_"

"Well, some things are kept from little kids to protect them. Little kids don't drive cars, and they can't cross a street without an adult. They shouldn't see scary movies because they'll get nightmares, and people should watch their language around little kids because they might repeat those words. Little kids don't understand the significance of these words, and at the very least it'd be embarrassing to the parents if their children cursed in public." Chance told him, wondering when the last time was that he had spoke so seriously about something. "As for what kids have to do with you, you're gonna be helping them."

Darien scowled. "I didn't agree to that."

Chance shrugged and replied, "You can talk to Noble Heart if you have a problem with that. I'm sure he'd be willing to listen."

"I will! But we got off the subject. I want you persuade your sister to choose me as her mate." stated Darien, and Chance went wide-eyed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho!" he waved his paws frantically, and fairly dragged Darien to the back of the room.

"Leggo!" Darien wrenched his arm free, and tried to sock Chance in the shoulder. Chance caught his paw, and got in his face.

"First of all, my sister is her own person, not a bargaining chip! Second of all, you can't be talking like that!"

"Like _what?_"

"Like a...an animal. I mean...Look, you obviously don't know how things are done here, and that's not your fault. But you better get one thing straight, and quick. You behave yourself around my sister, and you let _her_ choose whether she wants to be with you or not. If her answer is no, you had _better_ respect her wishes. And you want to make sure you're serious about her if you pursue her, and not go after any other girls. Because, all due respect and all...If you break my sister's heart..." he leaned closer so that Darien could actually smell his breath. Chance had recently eaten a chocolate donut. "I will break...your...face. Is that clear?"

Darien looked shocked at first, then he smiled. He supposed he should have been furious, but he had never actually seen a brother defend his sister before. The feeling that came over him was foreign to him, but if he could have put a name to it he would have sworn it was respect. "Perfectly."

"Good." Chance's smile was back again, and he was once more the easy-going fellow everyone was used to seeing.

"Do you..." Darien hesitated, then decided to ask anyway. "Do you think I have a chance with her?"

"I could find out..." Chance said, tapping his chin, an idea percolating in his brain. '_This could be just the thing for 'Mr. Lady-killer' here...'_ "You drop by tomorrow and help me babysit my little sister, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for any...ugh...'romantic' developments that might come along."

"Yeah. Fine. I'm gonna go...um..." Darien tried to smooth down his mane, but to no avail. "You don't have a comb, do you?"

Chance casually used his tummy symbol to make one, and handed it over. "Knock yourself out. Well, not literally, but - "

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You think I'm stupid?" Darien walked off, not seeing Chance nod gleefully in answer to his question.

'_You want my sister to be your girlfriend? Okay, then. I already _know_ what she thinks of you, but this is so much more fun! A nice little lesson for your attitude. Might teach you a few manners...And you'll get to see how much trouble a little cub can be..._'

"Are you nuts?"

Chance jumped at the sound of Connie's dry question. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Dad will walk over a bed of live _coals_ before he lets Darien babysit Faith."

"Shhh!" he clapped his paw over her muzzle. "You want everyone to hear? Trust me, it'll be fine. In fact..." he began to snicker, "It'll be hilarious..."

"Pbbbbbbbbbt!" Connie gave Chance's paw a raspberry, making him let go and groan in disgust. "All right, wise guy. Just don't blame me if you get caught."

"No, no, no, of course not." he agreed.

Just then, Soulful Heart dropped his cup and began to fan his open mouth with his paws. "Heh-hah-**hot!**"

"Oops..." Hope blushed. She had forgotten to warn Treat Heart about the punch...

* * *

_The Next Day..._

"Okay, Chance, it's all you." said Stellar, clapping his son on the back. "We'll be back sometime after five, hopefully. You know the rules? Any questions?"

"Yeah, I do have one question..." said Chance, rubbing his chin.

"What is it?"

Big grin. "What is the capital of South Dakota?"

Stellar groaned, and shook his head. "I should have known better..."

"It's Pierre," supplied Regal, smoothing back her headfur as she reached the bottom of the steps. Her 'bangs' sprang forward, but she took no notice. "And the state bird is the ring-necked pheasant, if anyone's interested."

Chance gave a theatrical yawn, and pretended to nod off.

"Mommy?" asked Faith, "What's a 'peasant'?"

"It's '_pheasant_', honey. It's a type of bird. In fact, maybe Chance'll show you a picture of one. I know we have a book on birds somewhere." said Regal, hugging the cub. "Be good for your brother, and no cookies until after dinner."

Faith nodded, and waved at the window as her parents drove off. As soon as they were out of sight, she turned and pounced on her brother, who was sitting on the couch. Chance was thrown back against the cushions, laughing and trying in vain to sit up.

"Is Hope's boyfriend coming over soon?" she asked brightly.

Chance thanked his lucky stars that she hadn't asked this question while their father was around. "Yeah, he should be." he said, sitting up and putting her beside him. "But he's not her boyfriend. He's gonna help out today. Won't that be fun?"

"I dunno..." Faith looked somewhat dubious, "He sure acted like a meanie before..."

"Well, he won't today. Not if he knows what's good for him." he winked, then looked up as the door opened.

Darien stepped into the room, looking like he'd rather crawl back into bed than be there at all. He had combed his mane the night before, but not this morning. Chance got up, and took his sister's paw as he went over to greet him.

"Hey, Darien. Right on time, but you shoulda knocked first." he said, his tone mildly scolding.  
Darien gave a scornful snort. "What for? You knew I was coming."

"It's just the polite thing to do, that's all. But welcome. Have you eaten?" asked Chance.

"Mm-hmm. Wouldn't pass up some coffee if you have it, though." said Darien, stifling a yawn.

"I could make some," offered Chance, and the lion nodded. Chance went into the kitchen, keeping an ear out in case his sister needed him. He knew he was taking a bit of a risk, but his hearing was good, and he didn't believe Darien would hurt a cub. Not after he apologized to her the day before.

Darien, for his part, was out of his element. He knew next to nothing about children, including how to interact with them, and he definitely wasn't used to socializing. Samuel hadn't been much of a conversationalist, and at sixty-seven he certainly wasn't a child. The lion sat down on the couch, and Faith trotted over to her toy box. Darien paid no attention to her as she dug through to find what she wanted, and ignored her grunts of frustration whenever she came up with the wrong toy. Finally the noise stopped, and Darien's curiosity got the better of him. He glanced over, and saw the cub kneeling by the wall, looking closely at a very large spider.

He did a double-take. _Large?_ That thing was gigantic! "Uh, Chance?" he called.

"Yep?"

"You don't have a pet tarantula, do you?" Darien asked, walking slowly over to Faith and guiding her away from the wall.

"Are you _kidding?_ My mom would have a conniption! Uh...why do you ask?"

"Cuz there's one about the size of a grapefruit on the wall."

"_Big_ spider!" grinned Faith, reaching out to touch the hairy brown creature.

Darien grabbed her paw and pointed. "See them fangs? That thing can bite."

"Ohhhh..." Faith nodded, holding her paw close to her chest and gazing at the arachnid with new respect.

Chance walked slowly out of the kitchen with a Tupperware container in one paw and a lid in the other.

"Didn't know you had spiders this big up here." said Darien.

"We don't..." Chance muttered, carefully bringing the container nearer to the spider. It reared up aggressively and hissed in challenge, and Chance quickly popped the container over the spider before slipping the lid under it and closing it. The tapping, skittering sounds it made as it tried to escape caused all three of them to shudder.

"You gonna kill it?" asked Darien.

Chance shook his head, smiling now that he had the spider safely in custody. "'If you want to live and thrive, let the spider go alive', I think the rhyme goes. No, I'm going to let it go outside."

"You crazy? Thing that big? Supposin' it gets in again, and you wake up with it sittin' on your face?"

Faith shook her head. "It won't sit on his face, he gets bad morning breath!"

"Everyone in this family's a comedian..." Chance muttered, heading outside to free the spider. When he came back, he said, "You know, my mom tells a story about how Beastly once teased her with a tarantula. I bet he dropped it when Uncle Brave Heart sent him packing."

"Coffee done?" asked Darien, his tone more demanding than requesting.

"Help yourself..." Chance sighed.

Chance watched as Darien walked towards the kitchen, but before he could tell her 'don't run', Faith zipped after him and tripped on the rug. There was a millisecond of silence before the air was shattered by a loud wail. Darien doubled back to see what had happened, and saw Faith sitting on the floor, hugging her knee. She had gotten a nasty rug burn, and in spite of the noise she was making he was surprised to find that he was moved to sympathy. He vaguely remembered a time when he himself had been small and helpless, and there was no one to comfort him when he was in pain. Which was exactly what Chance was attempting to do with Faith, but surprisingly she pointed at Darien instead.

Chance looked up at him, and nodded.

"What can _I_ do?" asked Darien, taken aback.

"She wants you to sing the 'Boo-Boo Song'." Chance explained, and the lion blanched.

"The _what?_"

Chance demonstrated it, and the lion didn't know whether to fall over laughing or punch this liger's face in.

"Forget it!" he snapped, then winced as Faith cried even louder. He couldn't stand it! After pacing the room for a moment, he groaned and said to Chance, "Okay, _okay!_ Tell anyone about this, and you're dead meat..." He took a few deep breaths to prepare himself, turning six shades of vermilion, and cleared his throat. " 'I'm sorry that you got a little boo-boo; I'm sorry that it hurts you really bad; the days are never sunny and the jokes are never funny when you got a boo-boo hurts you really bad.'"

Chance had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face. The song was to the tune of 'If You're Happy and You Know It', and to hear it coming from Darien...

Faith sniffled, and managed a little smile. "I need a band-aid..."

* * *

'_I hate babysitting...I **hate** babysitting..._' thought Darien as Faith popped in a Barney tape. '_That song's never gonna get outta my head..._' 

It was about four o'clock, and Darien was beginning to get impatient. He glared over at Chance, who seemed to be as happy as a lark, and said, "How much longer do I have to wait before you find something out?"

"Oh, a little while." smirked Chance.

Darien gritted his teeth, and covered his ears. Why had he agreed to do this? Why had he even bothered to go through a second party to get information he should be getting himself! '_No girl could be worth **this**...This jerk could be playin' me for a fool, and I'll never get an answer. Why'd I ask for his help _anyway_? She's just a _girl_! What am I afraid of?_' Darien growled softly. **This** wasn't the way he did things! He didn't need anyone's help for anything! When he wanted something, he took it. But this was different. She was a person, not a thing. Why did he need her, or anyone else? Darien needed no one. Darien was about Darien, and that was that.

"All this bullcrap, just to find out if Hope likes me...Stupid..." he muttered.

Faith's right ear twitched in his direction, and she tore her gaze away from Barney long enough to say, "Hope? She likes you. She said you're 'handy'."

Chance groaned, covering his eyes as Darien whipped around to gape at him. "The word is 'handsome', Faith...And thanks for blowing my cover."

"You...you...you already _knew?_" Darien breathed, his left eye twitching a bit.

Chance peeked over the tips of his fingers, and nodded reluctantly.

"YOU KNEW?" Darien yelled, getting to his feet and curling his paws into fists. "You knew _before_ you made me sing the 'Boo-Boo Song' when the kid got a scrape? _Before_ I burned my paw makin' her a grilled cheese that she wouldn't even _eat_ because I burned _it_ too? Before I sat through '**_Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_**'!"

"Er...yes..."

"You knew **_before_** I gave Faith a piggy-back ride? **_Before I even asked you to find out, you KNEW!_**" Darien roared. Over the volume of his voice, none of them heard the front door open.

Chance nodded again. "I knew. And maybe you should ask a girl yourself next time, instead of being in such a hurry and pumping someone else for information. If _anything's _gonna happen, it'll happen in it's own time."

"What...is going on here?" demanded Stellar Heart, placing his fists on his hips before Hope, of all people, shouldered her way past him.

"Chance?" she asked, and he lowered his head in shame. "Chance...how could you? Darien, I'm _so_ sorry, let me see you home - "

Before Stellar could protest, Darien cut him off, his voice cold and his face stony. "I'll see myself out." And with that, he was gone.

Hope stared at Chance for a long time before going up to her room.

Stellar exchanged a look with Regal, and folded his arms. "Chance..." he said, "You have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

_Author's Note: Chance threatened Darien, but he wasn't completely serious...At least, let's hope he wasn't. It might have seemed like Darien was a bit out of character, but as they say, looks can be deceiving. Hope you enjoyed it, and more is on the way._


	6. Doubts

"Darien"

_Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. There's some very mild language in this chapter, but nothing to worry about. Anyone who doesn't want to read that in a Care Bear fic can't say I didn't give them a heads-up. ;) Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes; the website I use to check that seems to be having problems, so any mistakes will most likely be caught later and fixed.  
_

"Chapter 6: Doubts"

"Well?" Regal folded her arms. "Are you gonna answer us? What was that all about?"

"And why was that _monster_ in my house, where my baby girl could pick up any number of bad habits?" demanded Stellar, picking up Faith and holding her protectively.

"Uh, well..." Chance began.

Faith squirmed, trying to get down, and she didn't seem too happy with her father. "Darien's not a monster, he's nice! He saved me from a big spider, and he sang the 'Boo-Boo Song' when I hurt myself, and he let me watch whatever I wanted to watch."

Stellar's heartbeat sped up, and he glared at Chance. "Oh, he did, did he? And what did you watch?"

She stopped trying to get away, and smiled brightly. "We watched 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', and we were gonna watch 'Barney', but you came home early."

'_Thank goodness for that!_' thought Chance, before he remembered he was in trouble.

"Did he say any naughty words?" asked Stellar, trying to sound casual.

Faith shrugged. "Don't think so. I was busy watchin' TV."

Regal seemed a lot less upset about the whole situation than Stellar did. "Well, Chance, you should have let us know you were having someone over, especially since we don't know him that well. And I'm sure there were other things to do than watch TV. She has all those coloring books she hasn't played with yet."

"Regal!" cried Stellar, "I don't want that _person_ near our child!"

Regal nodded, and said to Chance, "Neither do I, until we know him better. And don't leave us out of the loop next time you want to have a friend over."

"A _friend?_" Stellar asked scathingly, looking at his wife through narrowed eyes, but he relented with a sigh when she gently gripped his arm and gave him a look.

"I won't...Sorry." said Chance.

Hope came downstairs once more, donning a navy-blue jacket to stave off the cold. She spared Chance a glacial look before zipping up her jacket and turning to her parents. "I'm going out."

"Out _where?_" demanded Stellar, frowning.

At this, Hope's normally-buried stubborn streak surfaced. She faced him directly, her paws on her hips, and asked in equally demanding tones, "Since when do I need permission to go for a walk around the neighborhood?"

"What?" Stellar shrugged innocently, still scowling, "I just want to know where you're going, is all. Isn't that my right as your father?"

"It might have been your right when I had acne under my fur." Hope said dryly, "Dad, I'm only going for a walk. I don't know _where_, okay? I just need to walk."

Stellar's expression softened a little, and he gave a single nod of understanding and permission. He understood that feeling well enough, and he knew that Chance had embarrassed her. Still, he didn't trust Darien, not as far as he could spit! Which wasn't very far when you considered the fact that he didn't make a habit out of it...For all _he_ knew, Darien could have all sorts of bad habits. "All right. Listen...if you happen to run into Demetr - _Darien_ - it might be a good idea if you just said a quick hello and went on your way. For now."

Hope lowered her eyes, and nodded. She was actually _hoping_ to find Darien, to apologize for her brother's little 'joke', but she couldn't bring herself to tell her father this. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and slunk out of the house, feeling rather guilty. '_I'm sorry, Dad...but the more unwelcome he feels, the more unwelcome he'll make himself._' she thought as she stuffed her paws into her jacket pockets and strode off into the growing dusk. '_I just hope I'm right about him._'

* * *

Chance began to retreat to his room, but Stellar stopped him with a paw on the shoulder.

"Hold up." he said.

Chance grimaced a little before pasting a fake-looking grin on and turning around. "Yeah?"

Faith wiggled in her father's arms, tired of being held. "Down, Daddy!" she whined.

"Uh-uh, little missy. To the tub with you!" he said, chuckling at her disappointed groan before focusing on Chance once more. "We'll talk later. You're not in trouble, I just want to know a few things."

"Right-o." said Chance, watching his father carry his disgruntled sister upstairs.

Regal Heart hung up her jacket, and tried to tame her wind-blown bangs. Stellar was certainly being overprotective with Hope and judgmental of the new Cousin, but she knew that he would settle down in time. Regal pretty much took this new development in stride, but she was also a little concerned, and she had a few questions for Chance as well. "So, how was Darien around Faith?" she asked.

"In a word, hilarious." said Chance, grinning.

"Chance..." she said quietly, her tone of voice letting him know that the time for joking was over. "I'm asking how he was as a babysitter."

The liger shrugged, and helped himself to an apple from the fruit bowl. "Inexperienced, obviously. He certainly didn't enjoy himself, and he was only doing it to pump me for information about Hope. That's not as bad as it sounds." he added quickly, "But he did much better than you might expect. He watched his language, he kept his temper, and best of all..." his voice rose so that it actually broke a little, "He actually sat through 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'..." he leaned back against the wall, giggling like an idiot as he mentally relived it. "The look on his _face!_ Hahahahaha!"

Regal wasn't quite as amused, though she did smile a little. "That was a little on the cruel side, Chance. Why'd you put him through that, anyway?"

Chance took a large bite out of his apple, chewing slowly as he tried to think of a good way of putting it. Finally he replied, "Testing his character, I guess. And he wanted to use me as a go-between with him and Hope, to get her to be his 'mate'. Ugh..." he shuddered. "That didn't sit well with me."

Regal closed her eyes, and drew in a deep breath. "Oh stars, don't let your father hear about that."

"No kidding." said Chance.

"Anyway, I'm guessing he didn't understand how things are done here."

Chance shook his head. "No, I told him he can't go saying things like that. But just the same..."

Regal put a paw on her son's shoulder, and shook her head. "Protect her if need be, but don't cross the line, okay? Hope's old enough to make her own choices, and if Darien did well with watching Faith, he might turn out to be all right. Don't tweak his nose anymore, okay?"

Chance studied the crisp, white flesh of his apple, and muttered, "He does anything to hurt my sister, and I'll do more than tweak it..."

"You won't either." Regal said, somewhat sharply, "You'll let Noble Heart and your father and I handle it. Got it?"

Chance put his paws behind his back, and sighed. "Got it."

"And uncross your fingers, hm?" she gave him a canny smile, and Chance sighed again.

"True Heart shoulda named you 'Radar', Ma." he said.

Regal made a motion as if tipping a hat, and helped herself to an apple.

* * *

"**_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!_**" bellowed Darien, screaming his rage and humiliation to the starry sky. "How stupid can one lion **_BE?_**" He sat down on the bank of the Rainbow River, sulking over the spectacle he must have made of himself. "Goin' through all that, all because of one lousy female..."

He fell silent and stared out over the water, hating the wave of guilt that swept over him for using the word 'lousy' to describe Hope, who was anything _but_ lousy. He could just imagine what Samuel would have said, if he could see his predicament...

'_What's the matter with you, you crazy feline? You goin' soft on me, or somethin'? Women ain't worth the trouble, don't you think _I _know that? You only got yourself to blame for _this_ one, Dar._'

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he mumbled to himself, "How 'bout less rubbing my nose in it, and more advice?"

But of course, there was no answer. Samuel was dead. What did Hopeful Heart think of him _now?_ She must have heard the entire story by now. The lion buried his fingers in the soft, cool grass, and wished that the coolness could reach his head. Perhaps if he wasn't so easily angered, he could have stayed and laughed over what had happened...

But no. That just wasn't the way he was. He simply hated being made a fool of, and though it hadn't happened much since his escape, he had had quite enough of being made an example of, thank you very much. It wasn't simply a matter of losing the potential affection of a female; it was his entire _image_ that was at stake, and he'd had enough of being pointed at in the circus! Why should he care what these other creatures thought of him? Well, that was simple. They had the power, simply through sheer _numbers_, to make his life a living hell.

Of course they _wouldn't_, but he had no way of knowing that.

Darien ripped up a pawful of the green grass, pulling up a clod of dirt with the roots, and hurled it into the rainbow waters of the river with a snarl. "This is - " he said a few choice four-letter words, and fell silent with a scowl.

Hope, who was approaching him from behind, was almost too astonished by his language to hail him. She faltered briefly, digging her paws into the pockets of her hoodie, then collected herself. There was a lot of anger about him, but she sensed the need for reassurance as well, even if he didn't sense it in himself. Taking another step forward, she addressed him. "There you are, I was looking for you."

Darien leaped to his feet as a habit, but he was unalarmed...embarrassed, but otherwise calm. "Why were you looking for me?" he asked tonelessly, giving away nothing.

Hope didn't come any closer just yet, but she instinctively removed her paws from her pockets to show that they were empty. "You left so quickly, I didn't get the chance to thank you."

He opened his mouth to retort, but her words caught him off guard. "_Thank_ me? For what?"

"For helping out with my sister...and for putting up with my brother's nonsense. Which brings me to my other reason for coming here; I wanna apologize. Chance is one of the big jokers up here, but he's really a good guy."

Darien curled his lip. "Tsh, he's a jackass..." he replied.

Hope gave a ghost of a smile, and shrugged. "Yeah, he can be...But he means well."

The lion 'humphed', and sat down once more. She was only defending her brother, and he figured it would make no difference if he argued with her. He didn't react as she sat down beside him, but he did wonder why. She wasn't laughing at him, and she wasn't scolding him for insulting her brother. She was simply sitting with him, like she would with any good friend, when they hardly knew each other at all. "Does the tiger know you're here?" he asked, curious.

"My _father,_" Hope gently emphasized, "knows I'm out for a walk. Why?"

"I don't feel like bein' mauled from behind by a ticked-off tabby." he smirked a little, perhaps wanting to see how far he could go with the Stellar insults.

Hope only shook her head. "He's not like that, Darien. He might not be happy to find me with you, but he wouldn't attack without good reason. And he hardly needs to resort to fisticuffs."

"Why's that?" asked Darien.

"Because he knows how to use his tummy symbol." she said.

"Yeah, about that...How do these things work, anyway?"

Hope drew her knees up, hugging them to her chest. "Brave Heart will show you. He's in charge of 'Tummy Symbol Training'."

"Mm." Darien nodded slowly, trying to put a face to the name. The face of another lion surfaced in his mind, and he didn't like the idea of having him as a teacher. "How about if you showed me now?"

Now Hope looked surprised. "Me?" she asked.

"No, Santy Claus." he said caustically.

Hope giggled a little, and shook her head. "I don't know."

"No, come on." he urged.

"No, no, no..." she blushed, covering her face; she'd never taught anyone before, only coached her younger siblings with what they already knew.

He wasn't sure why, but he found himself smiling and on the verge of laughing. He elbowed her lightly. "Come on..."

"Well...Okay, I'll give it a try. Mind you, I'm no teacher." she said.

"Good, cuz I ain't no student." he said, getting to his feet as she stood up and took off her jacket.

"Okay, the way these things work, is..."

Darien listened attentively, but the whole thing sounded pretty hokey to him. "Wait, wait, wait...What you're sayin' is, 'think happy thoughts?' _Do I look like Peter Pan to you?_" he smirked.

She laughed and said, "Nah, more like Noodler, with his hands on backwards..."

"Hey!" he protested, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the smile from his face.

"Okay. Well, it's more like you're trying to use positive energy to counteract negative energy." she told him.

Darien looked out over the Rainbow River as his thoughts turned inward. '_I'm nothin' _but_ negative energy..._' he thought. Bitter. Jaded. Cynical. These words fit him very well. But positive? Not so much.

"I don't think this's gonna work after all." he said softly.

"Sure it will, you just have to try - " she began, but he cut her off with a wave of his paw.

"No...It won't work. I don't belong here..." he said.

"But Darien..."

"Go home." he told her.

"But..." she blinked. "I don't understand..."

"Before your dad calls out a search party."

Hope looked sad as she slowly put on her jacket, zipping it up and staring at Darien's back as he stood with his arms crossed. An unmovable figure, radiating such an aura of '_don't touch me_' that she was taken aback. "I'll go, if you want me to. But Darien?"

"What?"

"Don't be so quick to give up...and don't be so quick to judge." she said quietly.

"Judge who?" he asked.

"Us...and yourself."

Darien raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at her, but she was already walking away into the night. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want her to go. He also couldn't ask her to come back. _Wouldn't _ask her. But he regretted the loss of her company, and he couldn't deny it. He sat down once more, lost in thought, and sighed deeply.

_Not Much More..._


	7. Words of Discouragement

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ Well, it's been a long time. I've been busy with life, and writer's block wasn't even an issue because I had no time for writing. I won't go into details about my personal life, because you'd be here all day if I did, so I'll just apologize for the delay and give the usual disclaimers. I don't own the Care Bears. Soulful Heart Fox belongs to Nebulabelt, and I'll probably stop using the character after I finish this story and "Justin Case". It's not as if we had a falling-out or anything; his creator moved on to another fandom, and I just don't feel right using the character anymore, permission or no. Feels like I'm taking something that doesn't belong to me, LOL. Thank you, Nebulabelt, for letting me borrow him for a while._

_There's a slight content warning for this chapter. Darien is, as many of you know by now, a bit of a foul-mouth. As usual, I'm glossing over the curse words and saying that he _did _instead of being explicit. There's also a moment of violence. My apologies if this offends anyone. _

"Chapter 7: Words of Discouragement"

The next morning, a reluctant Darien hauled himself out of his bed in the Hall of Hearts and got ready for his Tummy Symbol Training session with Brave Heart. Since he hadn't quite decided whether or not he was going to stay, he made the Hall his temporary home. To be honest, he still wasn't sure if he had a place among the Care Bear Family. He was loud, brash, and probably not the kindest guy around, while _they_...

Gazing at his bleary-eyed reflection in the medicine cabinet mirror, the black-maned lion scoffed softly. Even his appearance didn't quite jive with this disgustingly-cheerful place. With his black and orange color scheme, he wasn't cute or pastel.

Taking up his comb, he went to work on his mane in an effort to rid himself of the nest of tangles that had cropped up overnight. He would then have to shower, brush his teeth, and run the comb through his mane once more just to get rid of the shower tangles. While living on the streets with Samuel, he hadn't cared much about his appearance. Though it nettled him to do so now, he didn't want to appear in a scruffy condition around Hope. What a lot of work to catch the eye of a girl! Was it worth it? He wasn't sure yet, but he hoped it would be.

"Might as well get this over with..." he muttered, heading for the shower.

* * *

Brave Heart Lion wasn't known for his patience; that was his nephew's department. His brow beetled as he slowly paced back and forth in front of the targets. Darien was already two hours late for his lesson, and his would-be teacher's ire was up.

"I _told_ him seven o'clock, he should be here by now...I'm almost _sure_ I said AM instead of PM! Wait..._did_ I?" he paused, absently stroking his furry chin. "Well, I don't know, but most people would _assume_ I meant morning! Um...wouldn't they?"

Shaking his head, Brave Heart resumed his pacing and considered his newest charge. He wondered, not for the first time, what it was about Earth that changed the mental makeup of a Family Member that came from there. Sure, his sister Regal and her husband Stellar had turned out all right, but Stellar especially had needed time to adjust. Perfect and Polite Panda, who had gotten separated from the Family in their cubhood, had elected to stay on Earth in Paradise Valley. Brave Heart felt that they would have done a lot of good had they stayed with the Family, but without the Pandas' caring influence their valley would be a wasteland of snow and ice. That fact was one thing that Bright Heart had been unable to account for scientifically.

Brave Heart's thoughts went back to Darien. There had been other new Family Members over the years, but none of them had made Brave Heart quite this uneasy. It was not because Darien was another male lion; Brave Heart wasn't worried about his position as leader being usurped, though he was prepared if Darien should try it. It wasn't Darien's forbidding demeanor either, because underneath all the posturing Brave Heart could see that he at least had the _potential_ to become a good person.

No, what really worried Brave Heart was the fact that his own brother-in-law shared an unfriendly past with Darien, and this would make his integration _much_ more difficult. Darien already seemed to take pleasure in pushing Stellar's buttons, and it looked as if the tiger was more than happy to let him if that gave him an excuse to retaliate. Brave Heart knew that he would have to nip this in the bud. Now.

"That is, if he ever shows up!" Brave Heart finished out loud.

"I'm right here."

"Yah!" Brave Heart nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Darien's voice coming from directly behind him.

Darien snorted, folding his arms as he regarded Brave Heart with a mixture of amusement and contempt. "Heh, my bad. Guess they just called ya 'Brave Heart' cuz lions are supposed to be fearless or somethin' like that. Didn't mean to scare ya, pal."

An indignant Brave Heart bit back a scalding remark, restricting himself to a growl. "You're late, Darien. Some of us have other things scheduled for today, you know. In the future, I'd appreciate it if you didn't keep me waiting for two hours."

In response to this, Darien rolled his eyes. "Ever occur to you that I _can't tell time?_"

"You...what do you mean?"

His cheeks warming in embarrassment, Darien avoided Brave Heart's eyes. "I never needed to on Earth. I don't have a clock, and I never bothered to learn. And if you laugh, I'm kickin' your butt."

Brave Heart shook his head, deciding to let that threat of violence pass...for now. "I'm not laughing, Darien. And I'm sorry I was short with you, but it didn't occur to me that you couldn't tell time. I would have sent you a wake-up call if you'd told me."

"We gonna start or not?" Darien demanded, hoping to change the subject.

Brave Heart was only too happy to oblige, and several minutes later he and Darien were standing in front of one of the targets.

Darien listened carefully, if somewhat skeptically, to Brave Hearts instructions. "Hmph. So, Hope was right, then? You just 'think happy thoughts' and crap like that?"

Brave Heart flinched a bit at Darien's language, but instead of chastising him he answered the question. "Well, yes and no. See, what you're doing is, you're focusing positive energy through your symbol. You use your Tummy Symbol to bring that energy out."

'_What the Hell is this? Yoga class?_' thought Darien.

"It'll be hard to control at first," Brave Heart cautioned, "and you should always have a buddy with you, at least until you know what you're doing. Beginners might have trouble bringing it out, too; that's why I'm here."

"Doesn't seem that hard to me." Darien said coolly.

"No?" Brave Heart didn't bother to hide his smirk. Beginner's bravado; he could grow to like this guy! "Then let's see what you can do!" he stepped aside with a grand sweep of his hand, clearing the way between Darien and one of the targets. Bravado or no, Darien was in for some punishment.

Darien positioned himself in front of the target, full of confidence and swagger. That is, he was until nothing happened. Clenching his fists and glaring at the target...which, incidentally, was crafted to look like Beastly, though Darien did not know this...Darien gritted his teeth and snarled. Beads of sweat, both from the sun and from his efforts, began to sprout on his forehead. "I...think...I _feel_ something..."

The loud grumbling sound that emanated from Darien's middle made Brave Heart gape in surprise.

Darien, looking every bit as astounded, and embarrassed to boot, rubbed the back of his neck. "Naw, never mind, that was just my stomach..."

Brave Heart buried his face in his palm with a gusty sigh. "Okay, let's try it again."

* * *

At around lunchtime, after several unsuccessful attempts, Darien finally made some progress. His Tummy Symbol flickered briefly and gave a low hum, but Darien immediately stopped concentrating when he felt his belly grow warm. This was something unexpected, and he didn't like it.

"C'mon, you're doing great." Brave Heart gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, "Why'd you stop?"

Darien was frowning at his stomach, rubbing it gingerly with his paw. "Is it supposed to be that warm?" he asked.

"Oh, that. Sometimes it is, but it won't hurt ya. The worst thing that could happen is you might get really tired after a while. Do you feel up to trying again?"

Not wanting to look weak, Darien nodded and gathered his strength for one last attempt. This time, his Symbol flashed twice before a bright beam of light burst forth...and Darien, unprepared for the sudden kickback, was propelled backwards into a cloud bank. "Gyaaah!"

Brave Heart hurried over to help the other lion up, but he ended up swallowing his words of praise in a timid gulp when Darien spouted a string of profanity that practically blistered his eardrums.

Struggling frantically to escape from his fluffy prison, unaware that his tirade was causing Brave Heart's face to drain of its color, Darien continued to spew foul language until he realized that he was hopelessly stuck. Looking up, he saw Brave Heart standing a few feet away; the Leader of the Care Bear Cousins stood with both paws covering his mouth, his eyes nearly bugging out of his skull. And he wasn't moving. Hoping to propel him into action, Darien cleared his throat. "A little help here?"

Breathing deeply through his nose, his features settling into a very grim expression, Brave Heart hauled the other lion to his feet. Then, after taking a few moments to collect his scattered wits, Brave Heart finally spoke. "Darien...we need to talk."

"Damn right we do!" Darien shot back, "You said the worst thing that would happen is I'd get tired! You didn't say _nuthin'_ about flyin' into no cloud! What _is_ this thing?" he grabbed at his belly, fisting his paws in the fur. "What kind of _freak_ did you guys turn me into by givin' me it?"

Seeing the wild, dilated eyes and noting his reactions, Brave Heart was at a loss. If he didn't know better, he'd think Darien's first Cousin Call had terrified him. "You're _not_ a freak, and neither are we. I said it'd be hard to control at first. Control comes with practice. There's no shame in what happened."

"I don't know shame. And I don't plan on getting anymore practice. If getting control means giving up control, then forget about it!"

"_Speaking_ of control," Brave Heart interjected, turning severe now that the shock had warn off, "you are going to have to control that mouth of yours!"

The hot coal of anger that had been forming in Darien's chest suddenly burst into flames of rage. "Are you tellin' me what to do?"

"Yeah. I am." Brave Heart said evenly. "You're a Care Bear Cousin, and I'm the Leader. And I'm telling you to watch your language. It isn't 'cool', it isn't 'funny', and it's disrespectful to others and to yourself. You don't _need_ to curse to show how angry you are, and up here we don't do that. Understand?"

"Well, you're not _my_ leader! You don't know me! Who do you think you are, you just met me and you're tellin' me what's what!" he jabbed a finger into Brave Heart's chest. "If I wanna cuss, I'm gonna do it! And if you think that just your bein' a leader before I got here means that I owe you any respect, think again!"

"You..." Brave Heart, for once, was speechless.

"I'm not finished!" Darien roared as surfacing memories added to his anger and caused him to heap more blame on Brave Heart. "Maybe if you were any kind of leader at all, you wouldn't have saved me from one Hell only to send me to another! You know what, I don't _need_ your kind of help!"

"Sent...you...to another?" Brave Heart whispered, genuinely confused. "Darien...what are you _talking_ about?"

The question brought Darien up short, and for a moment he simply stood motionless as he tried to catch his breath. "That's right...you wouldn't know, would you?"

Brave Heart's anger was quickly fading. "Darien, I _don't_ know. You haven't told us much of anything about your life before you came here. How _can_ we know?"

"Oh, forget it. I'm outta here!"

"Wait!" Brave Heart grabbed Darien's arm as he turned to go. "Don't do this, Darien. Let us help you."

In one swift movement, Darien had wrenched himself free and punched Brave Heart in the face with a solid '_**thock!**_'. "I don't want your help! Leave me _alone!_"

By the time Brave Heart's vision had cleared, he saw that Darien was already long gone. He hesitantly touched his jaw where Darien had punched him, and his stomach churned at the taste of his own blood...and at the realization that one of his molars was missing. He was able to find it after a brief search, and he made a face as he picked it up and held it between his thumb and forefinger. He had to consult Noble Heart, to inform him of this new development and to ask that no action be taken yet. While he wasn't always the sharpest crayon in the box, Brave Heart sensed that Darien had some major psychological issues that he was only just beginning to deal with, and the situation would have to be handled very carefully.

And so would his tooth. Take Care Bear would probably be able to repair it, since it had just happened, but Brave Heart knew that he would be in a world of hurt for the next few days.


	8. Fuel for the Fire

"Darien"

_"Author's Note"__ Last time, on Dragonball ZEEEEE...*crickets chirp* Never mind. Anyway, this chapter took a little longer than I thought it would. I had the story all mapped out, but as so often happens, I got a rush of new ideas and the old storyline went bye-bye. So this story will probably be much longer than I originally intended it to be, and updates will depend on how much time I have to sit down and write. My biggest problem with this chapter was keeping everyone in character, since I've never had one Family Member assault another before._

"Chapter 8: Fuel for the Fire"

'Anger' was too mild a word to describe Darien's feelings as he stalked off in the direction of the Hall of Hearts, massaging his aching knuckles. If the pain in his paw was any indication, Brave Heart must have been seeing stars right then.

_'Serves him right if he can't butt outta my business!'_ he thought to himself, lashing his tail with such force that it whistled like a whip through the air. His next thought was how very _stupid_ he had been to lose control like that. He had just hauled off and slugged the Leader of the Care Bear Cousins, second in rank only to True Heart and Noble Heart, and of an equal rank with Tender Heart. He couldn't have picked a worse target to vent his fears and frustrations on.

Darien halted and winced as he glanced behind him. He saw no sign of Brave Heart, so he had either been knocked out or was on his way to seek treatment. Either way, there seemed to be little chance of smoothing things over now. "Great...I'm as good as kicked out. Darien, you're an _idiot!_"

_'Should probably go back and find him, and make sure he's okay...Figures, don't it, he had to go and get my back up...'_

He released a hissing breath through his teeth, and doubled back on his own path at a significantly slower speed.

How could he have let Brave Heart get to him like that? Just because he didn't like to take orders, that didn't mean he was in a position to argue. Brave Heart was in a high position, and he was presumably able to drive one of those fluffy cars, while Darien couldn't even control his own Symbol! On the other hand, Darien had been able to drop him with surprising ease. _'Most likely cuz he wasn't expecting it.'_

He lowered his gaze to the path as he walked, and just for kicks he hawked back and spat on the multi-hued ground. "And that's my opinion on _that!_" he informed the road with an air of great satisfaction. Then he gave an uncharacteristic 'eep' when someone nearby began to speak.

"And here's _my_ opinion, for what it's worth; that's one of the most _revolting_ things I've seen in a good long while."

The lion twisted around to see who that rather grating voice belonged to, and found himself locking eyes with a red fox Cousin. Soulful Heart, for that's who it was, was sitting on a rock with his knees drawn up, reading a book so thick that it was a wonder he could hold it comfortably in that position.

In no mood to take anymore lip from these people, though he had no intention of hitting anyone else, Darien squinted incredulously and flung his arms wide. "Man, who _asked_ ya?"

"No one, obviously." said the fox, marking his place with a thumb and stretching his legs so that they dangled some inches above the dirt. "I do want to ask _you_ something, though."

"What?"

"You passed me a few minutes ago, walking _that _way and rubbing your fist. Not long after that, Brave Heart walked by with a fat lip, holding his jaw." said Soulful, setting up for his question. "By any chance, did you hit him?"

"Well, give the fox a prize!" Darien said acidly, "What're you gonna do about it?"

Soulful surprised him by snickering a little, shaking his head.

"What's so damn funny?" Darien held up a fist.

The fox had already stifled his brief burst of laughter, and he jumped lightly off the rock with a rather pitying smirk. "Sir, you're a _nincompoop_."

Darien's glower deepened, but he lowered his fist. "Look, pal, I ain't in the mood-"

"Brave Heart is arrogant, overbearing, and used to being obeyed." Soulful Heart interrupted, "He and I normally don't get along, because I resent it when people order me about as if I have no will of my own."

"So what's the problem, then? You sayin' I did you a favor? Cuz I honestly don't care, one way or the other."

"I won't say I've never wanted to do that myself, but there is a big difference between wanting to do something and actually doing it." continued Soulful, "You stand to anger the ones closest to him, including Hope--I've noticed she's caught your eye, and I can't say I approve--not to mention the fact that he holds a position of authority. While I was never able to figure out just _why_, the fact is that he does, and you lost your temper with the wrong Cousin."

"And?" asked Darien, tiredly.

Soulful's eyebrows lowered in exasperation, and his voice took on more of a rasp than before. "And you'll either have to run damage control, or risk eviction."

For reasons that he couldn't explain, Darien got a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he said rather defensively, "So, what do you care if I get evicted?"

"I don't." replied the fox, shifting his stance a bit as he prepared to leave. "But Hope will. She seems to think you're redeemable, and since her judgement is normally sound I have little choice but to trust it. I have to say, she has a lot of work ahead of her. Just see to it that you don't disappoint her."

"You said Brave Heart's arrogant, but if you ask me you're a close second. What makes you think I won't hit _you?_" Darien had no way of guessing that Soulful Heart was uncannily good at reading people, otherwise he would have known that Soulful was already aware of his grudging regret. He had already correctly assessed the lion's body language, finding no real aggression there at the moment, and therefore he felt free to speak his mind. Of course Darien also had no way of knowing that Soulful had issues of his own, and the only reason he had gotten involved in the matter in the first place was because of Hope.

This encounter was lasting a little too long for Soulful's liking, and he turned away. "Why would you compound your actions and the inevitable consequences? You don't seem stupid enough to make the same mistake twice."

As Darien scowled at Soulful's retreating back, he wondered why he had put up with the insults and the attitude. And it was with no small amount of dismay that he answered himself. '_Because he's right..._'

* * *

'_Well, here goes..._' Brave Heart removed his paw from his aching mouth and reluctantly rang Take Care's doorbell. The red bear had helped to raise him and the rest of the Care Bear Cousins, and there was simply no way she would let him leave without having explained himself. And if he knew her at all, the explanation would have to be thorough. He didn't plan on keeping it a secret, but he would have preferred to tell Noble Heart about this first. If it wasn't for the pain he was in, he would have done just that.

Take Care, upon opening her front door and getting a good look at the condition Brave Heart was in, put her fists on her hips and stood aside to let him in. "Brave Heart, what in the Forest of Feelings have you been up to?"

He squinted a bit as he edged past her, and in spite of the soreness of his jaw he said, "What do you mean 'up to'?" The determined expression on her face took the wind out of his sails, as it were, and his indignation melted into an almost childlike look of self-consciousness.

"You look like you've been in a fight. What happened?" So saying, she cupped his chin in her paw and turned his head to get a better look at his swollen cheek.

"No, not 'exshackly' a fight..." he frowned as it came out somewhat slurred, and reluctantly told her what had happened. "I was trying to teach Darien how to use his Tummy Symbol, and it took him hours to get a 'reshult'." he winced again, and put an extra effort into speaking properly, "When he finally got it to work, it knocked him backwards into a cloud bank, and I guess you could say he overreacted. We argued, and he punched me. Knocked out a tooth."

Take Care stayed silent until she had heard him out completely, and he could tell that she was already making plans of her own.

"Look, Take Care, I want you to let me handle this, okay?" he said, knowing all too well that it was better to ask her to do something as a favor, rather then tell her. And, as he expected her to do, she neatly sidestepped the question.

"Open up," she commanded, holding up a lit penlight and directing the beam at his muzzle. Sighing in resignation, he complied. After a close inspection of the area, she clicked the light off again. "Well, you're one lucky fella. I'll be able to put your tooth back in the socket, but you won't be able to chew on that side for at least three weeks." Leading him into the room where she kept her dental equipment, she went on, "I'll have to sort of splint it between the two on either side, and you'll want to eat only soft foods for the next few days. Trust me, you _will_ want to. You'll be extremely sore, and I'll make sure _Darien_ is made fully aware of the damage he's done." The way she said his name, she almost made it seem like a dirty word.

"Take Care..." Brave Heart's voice had a warning edge to it, "You _will_ let Noble Heart and I deal with this, won't you?"

Patting the arm of the chair, Take Care simply told him to 'park it'.

* * *

As he expected, Darien found no sign of Brave Heart anywhere on the target range. He honestly didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. Apologizing wasn't something he was used to, and he wasn't even sure that he'd be able to if he did encounter Brave Heart again. Had Brave Heart warned him that he might lose control of his Symbol and go sailing into a cloud bank? No. Had he known what to expect, he would have at least been ready for it, even if he didn't enjoy it. No, how could he find it in himself to apologize?

He had been sitting there for several hours before he realized that he wasn't alone. Others were beginning to arrive for their own training, their Missions over for the day, and Darien did not want to mingle. He was turning to leave when a familiar voice hailed him. He cringed guiltily as the object of his affections jogged up to meet him.

"Darien!" Hope skidded to a stop, "There you are! How'd your first training session go?"

"Tch...it tanked." Darien crossed his arms and leaned against a tree. He regretted his blunt answer when he saw the disappointment in her eyes.

"Oh? What happened?" she asked.

"Ah, I don't wanna talk about it." he waved a paw, "Y'know, if Brave Heart's gonna train people, he should warn 'em ahead of time that they run the risk of turning into a _skeet_ if somethin' goes wrong."

"Huh?" Hope tilted her head, looking confused...and rather offended. "Darien, you're talking about my uncle..."

Now it was Darien's turn to look confused. He might have known the definition of what an 'uncle' was, but the word meant about as much to him as Brave Heart's instructions had. Family wasn't something he had much experience with, so how could he understand exactly how he had hurt her feelings this time? The night before, she had gotten a similar look on her face when he had verbally bashed her father. He could almost _hear_ Samuel's voice telling him to '_grow a brain, and watch your step!_' "I'm...sorry?" The words sounded strange to him, coming from his own mouth.

'_He doesn't understand..._' Hope realized, '_He doesn't _get_ it_.'

Seeing her lower her head, Darien experienced a rush of almost-panic. "I'll...try to do better next time." he offered, sounding a little less cold than before.

She looked up again, and smiled sadly. "Don't try for me. Do it for yourself. Do it because you want to, not because of me."

He smirked, and turned to face her fully. She was suddenly aware of how much taller he was, and she took an involuntary step backward. "See, that's the thing about me...I do things because I _want_ to. And maybe I want to do this right _because_ of you. You see, Hope...you give me something to work for."

She felt her mouth go immediately and completely dry, and her heart sped up so quickly that it nearly floored her. She felt a fleeting sense of danger in his words, but just as any smitten girl would, she ignored it. The possessive way he stood over her...Connie would never have stood for that, but she couldn't seem to force herself to break the spell. "I do?"

Her voice was shaking. _She_ was shaking. Darien's smirk slowly faded, and he turned away from her. '_This isn't what I want...not like this. And after what I did, she'll never-_' His thought was cut off when a quickly-approaching Take Care angrily called to him.

"Darien, I wanna talk to you!"

The lion quickly turned and took a defensive stance in response to the bear's hostile salutation. "I can hear just fine, thanks. Quit yer screamin'."

Without saying a word to Hope, Take Care got in Darien's personal space and crossed her arms. "Do you know where I've been today?"

"Can't say as I give a flyin'--"

"_Darien!_" Hope lightly slapped his forearm, looking shocked. "Please, go on, Take Care."

Just seeming to notice her, Take Care nodded. "Thank you, Hope." Turning back to Darien, she went on tersely, "I've just spent the past couple of hours with my hands in Brave Heart's mouth, replacing a tooth that _you_ knocked loose! I want an explanation, and I want you to apologize to Brave Heart the next time you see him!"

Hope stared at Darien in disbelief, but the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. Her eyes welled up as she gave him a look of abject betrayal. "I can't believe you..."

"Hope, I--"

"_Don't_ talk to me!" she laid her ears flat, and ran off.

"Wait! I can explain!" he called after her, desperately. He went rigid when he felt a paw grab his shoulder.

"Then please do." Take Care said, her expression glacial.

He forced his temper back with a valiant effort, and shrugged her off. "First of all, don't _ever_ touch me. That's the mistake _he_ made, he grabbed me when I was mad! Second of all...I don't really care if you believe me, but I _was_ tryin' to find him."

"To apologize?" she looked skeptical.

"I...don't know." Darien looked away. This day was getting worse and worse.

Take Care was still angry, but she could see that she would get nothing more out of him now. "Then I guess that'll have to do for now. But I want to make one thing very clear; you are _never_ to let this happen again. Do you understand?"

He nodded, eyes downcast, and actually shuffled his feet like an embarrassed teenager. "Yeah..."

"I'm not just talking about Brave Heart. I meant everyone. You keep your paws to yourself, and learn to control that temper."

Unable to meet her eyes, he nonetheless said petulantly, "I heard you the first time."

"Good." She uncrossed her arms, and mercifully moved back and out of his face. "Now, you have yet to make an appearance at my clinic. You'll need your immunizations and a full physical examination."

He snorted at her audacity, and said, "Sorry to disappoint."

"That's not a request, Darien." she scowled.

He scowled right back, and leaned forward so that his breath warmed her face. "Not. Gonna. Happen." She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off before she could utter a peep. "Listen, I've had shock treatments, I've tested experimental drugs, I've been through somethin' they called 'pain stimuli', I been put in sensory deprivation tanks, and _more_, and I ain't never had no say in the matter. Well, now I do. I've had enough of you so-called _doctors_ to last me a lifetime."

Take Care's shock must have been evident, because he showed a measure of mercy by backing down a bit. His expression even softened a little.

"I know you ain't like them. But..." he shook his head. He just couldn't.

And just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, they were approached by a very grim-looking Noble Heart. "Darien, there's something we need to discuss. Come with me, please."

_To Be Continued..._


	9. Second Thoughts

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ This will be a short chapter, and most of the others will probably follow suit. There are several sub-plots going on here, and to address too many of them in a single chapter might be confusing to some. _

"Chapter 9: Second Thoughts"

Normally, the Forest of Feelings was a quiet and tranquil place. A very large tarantula silently crept up on a cricket, which was sitting near the side of the path and drawing its antennae through its mouth parts to clean them. The spider just needed to get a little bit closer before it could pounce...

A stripy blur shattered the forest's tranquility, and sent the tarantula skittering off the path with a chitter of alarm. That blur was, of course, none other than Hope. She never even noticed the spider as she fled for the safety and security of her home.

Unfortunately, she was more of a sprinter than a distance runner, and she soon stumbled to a halt, leaning forward and gripping her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

Why did this feel like such a betrayal? It might have been anyone, but of course it had been Brave Heart, her own uncle, whom Darien had decided to hit. Either way, it was bad enough that it had happened at all. So, why hadn't she seen something like this coming, knowing as she did that Darien hadn't even had the time to _try_ to rehabilitate himself?

She knew the answer to _that_ one already; because she hadn't wanted to. She had wanted things to go as smoothly and perfectly as possible, and she had somehow managed to make herself believe that they would. Darien had disappointed her, and he hadn't even told her about the incident between himself and Brave Heart.

Hope drew a shuddering breath, and let it out. Turning aside from the path, she took a well-known short cut. She and her siblings had gone that way so many times that their feet had begun to wear a second path in the undergrowth; at this point, she didn't even have to watch out for briars anymore.

As she walked, Hope wondered if she was being unfair to Darien by having such high expectations early on. Who was she to expect him to immediately fit in like the correct piece of a jigsaw puzzle? She wasn't even aware of it before this had happened, though! All that preaching she had given him...'be patient', 'give it time', and so forth. Was she really allowing him to do that? Did she really have any right to act the way she had, when she knew perfectly well that he hadn't had time to settle in yet?

But it was her _uncle!_ Could she really forgive something like that?

Home. She needed to get home...

* * *

"And here...we...go!" Chance triumphantly held up a newly-threaded needle, and carefully poked the point through a piece of popcorn. He looked up and waved when his mother came in with the groceries.

"What are you doing?" asked Regal, peering at him over the leafy tops of the celery.

"Making popcorn garlands for Playful Heart. Now, sh! Don't distract me, I couldn't find any thimbles." The tip of his tongue lightly flicked the side of his muzzle as he concentrated on stringing another piece of popcorn.

'_Of course. Why did I ask?_' she thought, depositing the groceries on the kitchen counter and going back out for a follow-up question. "I know I'm probably going to regret this, but why are you making popcorn garland when it isn't even Christmas? And why does Playful Heart want them?"

"He doesn't know about it yet..." Chance grinned, "I'm gonna put them in the tree near his house to attract the birds. You know the tree I'm talking about; he likes to park his Cloudmobile under it..."

It only took Regal a second or two to figure it out, and she waved a finger at him, scowling, "Chance Heart Liger, what have I told you about pranking Playful?"

The liger glanced up guiltily, then showed her a bright smile. "Watch out for booby traps?"

The smile she gave him was equally bright as she sing-songed, "That's riiiiight."

"I love ya, Ma. You've got a sense of humor!"

Regal put a paw to her chest, and bowed with a flourish. "Well, after putting hot sauce in the punch bowl, he's due for a taste of his own medicine. I hope he won't be too mad when he sees his car, though."

Chance shrugged, unconcerned. "Ah, what's a little bird poop between friends?"

Not sure what to say to that, Regal Heart shook her head and went to go start dinner.

Not two minutes later, Hope entered the house and slammed the door, leaning against it and covering her eyes with a paw. Chance yelped, startled, sticking his finger into his mouth and sucking it; he had accidentally pricked himself.

"Hey, Hopie..." he greeted her somewhat uncertainly after he took his finger out of his mouth, "Did you see Darien today?"

"_Yes!_" she wailed, running up the stairs and to her room, slamming the door behind her. Her brother's smile immediately vanished. Chance set aside his 'project' and ran after her, taking the stairs two at a time. He could hear her muffled sobs before he even reached the top, and he wasn't surprised to find her door locked.

He tapped out 'Shave and a Haircut' before calling through the painted wood. "Hope, can I come in?"

"Go away!" she bawled.

"C'mon, Hopie, let me in. Please?" He uncurled the fist he had used to knock, and placed his palm and his ear against the door.

"I d-don't wanna talk about it!" she said, stubbornly.

He sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to pick the lock. "I think you'll have to, sooner or later. I _know_ Darien must have said or done something to upset you. Wouldn't you rather talk to someone who won't overreact?"

For several moments he heard nothing except for her muffled sobs and sniffles, and he had just decided to risk unlocking her door when he heard her get up and approach it. She unlocked it, but didn't open it. He took this as permission and cautiously let himself in, closing the door behind him. His heart broke when he saw her sitting on her bed with her back to him, her shoulders rising and falling in rhythmic spasms. He padded over and sat beside her, putting his arms around his older sister and rocking her just as their own father would. "Tell me what happened." he said quietly.

She merely broke down and cried harder, burying her face in his shoulder. She wasn't even trying to hold back now. It was all he could do to keep from crying himself. Finally, she managed to choke out, "He...he h-hit..."

Chance felt his stomach grow cold. "He hit you?"

Hope shook her head impatiently, "No! N-no, he...he hit Uncle Brave H-Heart..." She swallowed hard, trying to get her spasming ribcage under control. "He...he knocked...knocked out...one of his teeth! Why would he _do_ a thing like that?"

Staring at the wall over the top of his sister's head, Chance said nothing and continued to rock her. The cold feeling that had come over him was quickly turning into boiling-hot rage, and he knew that he had to control it or there would be consequences. His sister needed someone to be strong for her; his own feelings could wait. He finally shook his head, and said, "I don't know, Hope. I really don't know."

"Was I...wrong about him?" she asked, seeming to forget that he was younger than she was. She pulled back and looked earnestly into his face, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Do you think I was seeing good where there...where there wasn't any?"

"No..." he shook his head.

"I mean...he hurt Brave Heart, but...he's been hurt too, I _know_ he has!"

Chance's manner was, for him, very unusual. He was both stern and compassionate as he answered her. "That may be, Hope, but it's not up to you alone to 'rescue' him. That'll be a team effort, if it's even possible at this point. If he hit Brave Heart, then he has to answer for it, hard life or not."

_If it's even possible_, he had said. What if it wasn't? She met his eyes again, her expression desperate. "What can I do?"

Her brother handed her a tissue, looking rather pensive as he considered the question carefully from all angles. "Right now...nothing."

She took the tissue and shook her head, uncomprehending. "Nothing?"

He bobbed his head once. "For now, you'll do nothing at all. You need time to cool down...and so do I." Finally, there was a faint suggestion of anger in his voice, but his face remained neutral. "The final decision is up to Noble Heart and True Heart, and until then we should all keep out of it and wait it out."

She nodded again and, sniffling once, she gratefully put her arms around him. "Thanks, Chance...I'm sorry I got so upset, I just...it's just that...I think I love him..."

'_Ahhh, crud..._' he thought, glad that she couldn't see his face. It hadn't seemed so bad when he thought it was just a crush. If she was in _love_ with Darien, things were sure to get complicated. Well, _more_ complicated. He gently disengaged himself from his sister's hug, and stood up. "Listen, if you're sure you'll be okay, I have to go. I just remembered...I need to speak with Playful Heart about something."

Hope gave a slight smile, and replied, "Yeah, I'm okay. Go ahead."

Chance smiled back, and ruffled her headfur before loping down the stairs and out the door. There was actually a third reason for him to tell Hope not to do anything just yet. He and Playful Heart would need time to plan...


	10. A State of Disgrace

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ Jeez, what a time to get about a hundred ideas at once! It never happens when you're looking for it, does it? Thank you for sticking with me this long, and for your kind reviews! This chapter is extremely short, but you can expect the next one soon!_

_"Chapter 10: A State of Disgrace"_

Noble Heart was completely silent as he led Darien away from the target range, and everyone they passed (the Cousins especially) gave them a wide berth. Having been raised by Noble Heart since infancy, the Care Bear Cousins knew the expression on his face well enough to steer clear. They could tell from a distance that the horse was very angry, and more than a few of them wondered just what Darien had done to provoke him.

Not long before, Brave Heart had reported to Noble Heart that Darien was currently unfit for duty...and why. With his speech slurred by the Novocain that Take Care had given him, it took Brave Heart several minutes to do so, and Noble Heart had promised that he would consider Brave Heart's request for leniency. And he would. But first, he wanted to get Darien's side of the story and find out just how much leniency he deserved. Most transgressions came from cubs, so this hadn't even been an issue for years. Up until this time, punishments were few and far between, and were generally tailored to fit the crime. 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth' certainly couldn't apply here, though! As angry as he was, Noble Heart couldn't have brought himself to hit Darien; that simply wasn't the way he was.

Something would have to be done, though. He couldn't allow his 'children' to be harmed, especially not by one of their own. Even if he didn't feel like a father to Brave Heart--to all of them--hitting one of the Leaders was serious business. It was just as well that they had some distance to walk before they would reach the Hall of Hearts. Noble Heart needed some time to breathe deeply and gather his thoughts.

Behind him, Darien plodded along slowly and reluctantly, hanging his head and crossing his arms in a mingled expression of shame and defiance. He resembled a miscreant teenager more than anything else, and in truth, that's exactly what he felt like. It was a new feeling, one that he didn't care for. He was finding that being in a family, especially one as diverse as this one, wasn't exactly a ticket to 'Easy Street'. While he did have a bed to sleep in and food to eat, he had a whole new set of rules to follow. So far, he hadn't been following any of them.

Well, he hadn't expected to find a girl he cared for, had he? Or so many obstacles to overcome, like dangerous Tummy Symbols, presumptuous Leaders, and...brrr!...doctors. This was more than he had bargained for, and now that he had upset Hope he didn't even have _her_.

_'I didn't exactly have her in the first place,'_ was Darien's morose thought, _'And now I never will. She'll never talk to me again. Idiot! Stupid!'_

They hadn't reached their destination when Darien halted, clasping his paws behind his back. "Hey, uh, listen...um..." he almost looked away when Noble Heart turned to meet his gaze; the horse really was livid, though he did a good job of concealing it. Seeing Noble Heart raise his eyebrows briefly in a signal that he should 'go on', Darien continued, "I think I better go back down to Earth. I don't fit in here, I ain't happy, and no one's happy havin' me here, so..."

Noble Heart shook his head uncompromisingly. "Darien, you're not going anywhere until I've had a chance to talk with you in private."

"Look, you can't _keep_ me here against--" he began, but Noble Heart had already turned and begun to walk forward once more. "Hey!"

But Noble Heart didn't answer him. Darien quickly lost his hangdog posture, and fell into step beside Noble Heart. If the horse wasn't going to answer him, he was at least going to have him in his line of sight...Ignore _him_, would he?

By and by they arrived at the Hall of Hearts, and without speaking (though he did wave when someone greeted him) Noble Heart led Darien into one of the private rooms near the back of the building.

_'Well, here we go,'_ Darien thought to himself, sighing, though he wasn't sure if it was a sigh of dismay or one of relief, _'He's gonna chew me out and send me on my way. Best thing all around, really. Hope's a nice girl...just why she liked me, I dunno. She deserves better...an' I deserve to get the boot. My own fault, couldn't control my temper, and now I'm payin' for it.'_

Noble Heart closed the door behind them and folded his arms, moving to stand in front of the lion, whose tail was beginning to wave slowly back and forth. "Now...before I decide what to do about this, I want you to tell me why."

Darien broke the stare first, ducking his head and looking down at his toes. Damn it, he wasn't _used_ to being ashamed! "I dunno..."

"You don't _know?_"

"I mean, I don't know where to begin." he clarified.

Noble Heart pulled up a chair, and gestured for Darien to do the same. "I've got plenty of time...and, incidentally, so do you. If we're going to be here a while, we might as well get comfortable."

Darien grabbed a chair and turned it wrong-ways before sitting down, straddling the seat and resting his forearms on the wooden heart-shaped back. Noble Heart made no comment on this, though this manner of sitting struck him as being rather impolite. "Well...if you want the short version, I did it because he grabbed my arm. I wanted to leave, and he wasn't lettin' me."

"Yes, I know that much." Noble Heart nodded, "I've already spoken with Brave Heart. I want to know why you wanted to leave, what put you in that state of mind. What made you angry?"

The lion blew out his cheeks, and ran a paw through his mane. "I dunno...I guess I...Look, this ain't easy for me, okay? You know how long it's been since I talked to someone? I had _one_ friend down on Earth, and he's dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Noble Heart said levelly, and though his tone was chilly he did mean it.

"Sure." Darien shrugged. "That's how it goes. I tell ya somethin' bad happened, you say 'sorry'. Just like reading a script, ain't it? That's the way it's supposed to go, so am I doin' this 'talking thing' good enough, or not?"

A blink. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't be so flippant about this. I am truly sorry that your friend's passed on, but that doesn't excuse you for your actions today."

Darien glared at Noble Heart, and shot back, "He didn't 'pass on', he's _dead!_ 'Pass on'...hmph..._please!_" he got up and angrily stalked from one side of the room to the other, making several noises of frustration and even baring his teeth once or twice as Noble Heart watched in silence. Finally, he stood with his paw gripping the back of his chair and went on. "The first human I trust, and what happens to him? He goes an' gets himself killed! And now you guys tell me I'm gonna be _helpin'_ humans, when it's humans that had me on the run for longer'n I can remember?"

Now Noble Heart was beginning to understand at least part of the reason why Darien was so angry, but that still didn't explain everything. "At the moment, you're nowhere near ready for that. And I _am_ sorry that you've had such hardships in your life. What I don't understand is why you hit Brave Heart today."

"I told you why."

"No," Noble Heart said patiently, "You told me what prompted it, but you were feeling aggressive to begin with. I know about what happened with your Tummy Symbol, how you weren't prepared and were thrown back. From what I was told, you had a very soft landing."

"I couldn't get _up!_" Darien flung his hands up, then brought them down at his sides, curled into fists that shook. "Don't you get it? I was stuck there, anyone coulda done whatever they wanted to me, and I _couldn't get up!_"

Eyes widening slightly, Noble Heart stood up but kept his distance. "Darien, _no one_ is going to 'do' anything to you!"

Darien only shook his head and looked away, and Noble Heart closed his eyes briefly and sighed.

"Look, Darien, you're not the first distrustful person to join our Family, and I'm sure you won't be the last. But you _are_ the first one to use violence. Not only will it not be tolerated, but it's not necessary. If you have a problem with something, the thing we try to do is talk it out."

"But I _didn't _wanna talk, and he tried to force me! What did he expect me to do, hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya'?" Darien half-turned away, but looked over at Noble Heart when the horse gave an equine snort.

"No, of course not. He was just trying to help you, that's all. That's _all_ we want to do, but not at the risk of being pummelled. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The lion seemed to be relaxing a little; at least he was talking instead of clamming up. He scraped his lower lip with his teeth, and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think I gotcha. Would you believe it was a reflex?"

"Was it?" Noble Heart raised an eyebrow. Darien gave a single, shameful nod, and the horse nodded back. "Then I believe you. And Brave Heart already forgives you; he's worried about you. The next time you don't feel like talking, here's what I want you to do. I want you to say, 'I don't want to talk right now', and I promise you, we'll heed the warning next time. That doesn't mean you can use this whenever the mood takes you, but I don't want you to feel like you're cornered either."

"Hm." Darien nodded and looked like he was turning the thought over in his mind...and, by the way his face fell a little, he had also been considering using that excuse as a cop-out. Little chance of that now. "I ain't evicted, then?"

Noble Heart shook his head. "Not this time, no."

A shrug. "So I'm off the hook, then?"

"Eh, not quite..." Noble Heart said dryly. Why didn't Darien like the way he said that? He was about to find out. "I said you could stay, I didn't say you would go unpunished."

_'Yeah, right...Raise a hand to me, and you're chili sauce.'_ thought Darien, misunderstanding him completely.

"Tummy Symbol Training, and indeed, _all_ formal training can wait for now. Until further notice, you can consider yourself on probation. During that time, you will live with us and abide by the rules. We will teach you how to do routine maintenance on the Cloudclipper, and you will also be called upon to help out in the Hall of Hearts kitchen."

"I can't cook worth a damn."

"You'll learn." Noble Heart informed him pleasantly.

_Stay tuned!_


	11. Facing the Music

"Darien"

"Chapter 11: Facing the Music"

The next morning, it didn't take Darien long to realize that word of his little 'escapade' had already gotten around. Nobody spoke to him at breakfast, which would have been fine with him if he didn't know that he was the subject of many of their conversations. Hope wouldn't even look in his direction, and when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that he was approaching her she immediately ran off and hid in the ladies' room. To make matters worse, she was there with her entire family, and her mother fixed him with a brief look that was so glacial he actually shivered. The tiger, Stellar Heart, didn't seem surprised at all, but had apparently promised to keep out of it.

Darien sat down at a vacant table with a plate of pancakes and a glass of orange juice, and out of the corner of his eye he spied Chance Heart Liger and a monkey animatedly discussing something. The monkey, whose name Darien had forgotten, looked over at him and giggled before resuming his chat with the liger. They seemed to be up to something...

_'Ah, who cares?'_ thought Darien, cutting up his pancakes and pouring syrup over them.

If only he knew of Playful Heart's reputation...He and Funshine were something of a team, and Chance occasionally joined in on their pranks and high-jinks. To have the two of them sitting at the same table, engaging in what looked suspiciously like _plotting_, most definitely didn't bode well for somebody. While Darien went back to his silent and sullen meal, the two of them disappeared into the growing throng of Bears and Cousins, picking up Funshine on the way.

Darien noticed that no one had called him to do anything in the kitchen, so he figured that Noble Heart either forgot (unlikely), or he would end up having to help clean up. Sure enough, by the time most of the Family had left the cafeteria to start their Caring Missions, Treat Heart Pig came out of the kitchen and hesitantly got his attention.

"Um, Darien, Noble Heart...asked me to..." she trailed off, apparently afraid of having the lion turn on her.

Darien rolled his eyes, and said impatiently, "Relax, I ain't gonna hit anyone else. He asked you to have me help clean up, right?"

Looking very much relieved, Treat Heart grinned and handed him a tray that was piled high with dirty dishes. "That's right. You can start by putting these beside the kitchen sink, and helping me clear up the rest of them. I'll show you where we keep the dish soap and sponges, and while you're doing that I'll get things set up for lunch."

"Uh-huh..." Darien said skeptically, adjusting his grip on the tray, which was quite heavy. "And how long you think this'll take?"

Treat Heart, emboldened by Darien's promise to behave, put her fists on her hips and seemed to be sizing him up. "You got someplace to be?"

"Not really, just wonderin'..."

"Good. It'll take as long as it takes. You're new at this, so nobody expects you to be the fastest in the world. Now, hop to it!" she grinned.

Narrowing his eyes warningly, Darien turned and headed for the kitchen. "Don't push your luck, lady."

* * *

"He's coming!" Funshine whispered urgently, setting the kitchen's phone into its cradle and jiggling Playful Heart's elbow. "Move, move, move!"

Playful Heart stifled a giggle and bounded out of the kitchen, grabbing Chance along the way, and the three of them beat a hasty retreat out the back door.

And not a second too soon as Darien used his shoulder to push open the door, plunking down his burden with a sigh of relief and waiting for Treat Heart. As promised, the pig Cousin showed him how to work the triple sink. There were three large basins; one for washing the dishes with soap and a scrubbie sponge, one for rinsing, and one filled with a diluted sanitizer solution. He was to use each sink for each dish in that order, taking care to remove every speck of food from the forks especially.

"Hunh..." Darien regarded the mountain of dishes with a jaundiced eye, and reluctantly got to work. In the background, Treat Heart hummed an insufferably cheerful song to herself as she prepared sandwiches, sliced strawberries for her fruit salad, and in general just made a nuisance of herself. He tried to tune her out, and in time he noticed that his paws were beginning to itch. He withdrew them from the water and absently scratched the back of his left paw, and he bit back a yell when a small clump of fur scratched off with the suds. "What the freakin' _hell!_" he squawked, dunking his paws in the middle sink to rinse them. A fine layer of fur floated on top of the water, and a faint smell like burnt feathers hung in the air.

"Darien!" Treat Heart scolded, "Language, please!"

"Hey, I think I'm allergic to that soap or somethin', lookit this!" he held up his paws. There were two more tiny bald spots, and the exposed skin was red.

Treat Heart gasped and grabbed his paws, turning them this way and that before releasing them. She noticed that the soap smelled a little unusual, and she grabbed the bottle and gave it a squirt over the sink. Instead of a bright transparent yellow, it was a viscous yellowish-pink. "Wait a minute..." She went over to the trash can...and reached into it, coming up with an empty bottle of 'Nair'. "Playful Hearrrrrrt..." She grumbled in a low voice.

"What's that?" asked Darien, running his paws under the cold water now.

"Darien, I'm sorry about this...it seems someone, most likely Playful Heart Monkey, slipped hair removal lotion into the dish soap. It's actually a _good_ thing it irritated your skin, or..." She bit her lip, trying not to smile.

"Never mind." snapped Darien, already contemplating what he would do as soon as he caught that stupid simian...

Treat Heart clicked her tongue briskly, and threw the ruined dish soap bottle into the trash can. "I'll take care of the dishes, why don't you go see Take Care Bear about getting some cream for your paws?"

"I ain't seein' no doctor. I'm fine." Darien said in a voice that brooked no argument. Treat Heart shrugged and drained the sink, and when the phone rang she asked him to get it. He picked it up and put it to his ear, and he had gone so far as to say 'hello' before he felt something 'not right'. Removing the phone from his ear, he saw that the ear piece was smeared with peanut butter. "Gonna be a long day..."

* * *

He was right. By the time he met Loyal Heart Dog at the docks where the Cloudclipper was moored, he had already been doused by a flour bomb, pelted with eggs, covered in caramel ice cream topping, and drenched in gallons and gallons of cold baked beans. As he and Treat Heart cleaned up after every prank, he had plenty of time to wonder just how the culprit(s) had concealed those booby traps so well. Of course, all of these cleaning sessions meant that he was very late in showing up. When Loyal Heart asked him what kept him, his reply had been short and succinct. "Monkey."

The blue dog hissed in through his teeth, shaking his head. "Oooh...say no more."

"And speaking of which..." Darien eyed the cloud boat with no small degree of skepticism, "You haven't seen him around here, have you?"

Loyal shook his head. "No, I don't think you have to worry about him doing something here. I've been here all day. Now, shall we get started?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Darien shrugged, following Loyal Heart on board the ship.

This was what Chance had been waiting for. As soon as they were below decks, he tip-toed out of his hiding place and got on board, silently shutting the double doors that led below and sticking the handle of a nearby mop through the two door handles. "Sorry about this, Loyal Heart..." he whispered, "It's for a good cause."

Playful Heart and Funshine appeared on the other side of the Rainbow River, and when Chance had gotten off the boat he untied it and let it drift. Signaling the members of his team, Chance fired a Cousin Call at the water just beside the boat. Playful and Funshine did the same, and slowly, very slowly, the boat began to revolve in the water, bobbing like a cork.

Chance heard muffled shouting as the two prank victims discovered that they were locked in, and he winced. "_Really_ sorry, Loyal Heart..."

The boat spun faster and faster, caught in a small whirlpool, and the three pranksters ceased their Stare to let the two trapped Cousins recover. Unexpectedly, the doors burst open as Loyal Heart had the presence of mind to use his Tummy Symbol, and he and the lion stumbled out to the side of the boat where (as one might expect) they were both violently ill. Chance and Funshine looked somewhat guilty now, but Playful Heart was slapping his knee and laughing gleefully.

When he had a moment to breathe, Darien looked up and spotted Chance as the boat slowly revolved enough to face him. "Ohhh..." he shook his head, and jabbed out an accusatory finger. "_You! _You wait 'til I get my hands on _you_, ya little scumbag!"

Loyal Heart, swallowing hard, put a paw on Darien's shoulder. "It's not just him..." he pointed to Playful Heart and Funshine as the boat turned some more. "We'll tell Noble Heart. _He's _the one authorized to deal with this, not you, and not me."

Darien just shook his head, too nauseated to argue.

* * *

Monkey, Bear and Liger stood contritely before Noble Heart as the co-founder of the Care Bear Family was made aware of their mischief. With him were several others; True Heart, Darien, Loyal Heart and Regal Heart. Brave Heart was taking a few days off to heal, but he was on his way there as well.

"I'm very disappointed in all three of you." Noble Heart informed them. "I'm sure you know what this means."

They nodded, and mumbled in unison to Loyal Heart and Darien, "We're sorry..."

Darien sneered, but Noble Heart seemed to accept this. Not that the lion knew _why_.

"I should hope so." said the horse, "Playful and Funshine, you two will be taking Darien's place in the kitchen, and I'll find something else for him to do. Regal Heart..."

The lioness stepped forward, and Chance cringed when she looked at him. "Yes?"

"I will leave the disciplining of your son up to you." Noble Heart gripped her shoulder before moving off.

She nodded, folding her arms. "Chance, go on home. I'll deal with you later; right now, I want to talk to Darien."

"Me?" Darien pointed to himself, more than a little surprised.

"Yes, you."

The rest of them dispersed, leaving the lion and lioness alone. Noble Heart had a few misgivings about leaving her alone with him, knowing how angry she was about what he had done to her brother, but he trusted her judgment enough to allow this.

Regal Heart watched the others leave, then turned to Darien and spoke before he had the chance to say anything. "I don't condone what Chance did. Frankly, I'm very embarrassed about it. But as angry as I am with Chance, I understand why he did it."

"Look, I know what you're gonna say - " Darien began, but she held up a paw to silence him.

"I doubt that. You see, you didn't just hurt my brother when you lost your temper yesterday. You hurt my daughter." the lioness's expression was stony, a far cry from how friendly she had appeared other times. "You betrayed her trust when you hurt a person she cares about. She cried herself to sleep last night because of you. I won't forget that." When Darien hung his head but didn't speak, she went on, "Now, I _don't_ know how you feel about Hope. I know you're interested in her because you like her looks, but if you care for her at all you'll stay away from her."

Darien growled in frustration and threw up his paws. "Look, I'm _sorry_, okay? What else do you want me to say, I'm _**sorry!**_"

"That's not good enough!" Regal snapped, "You can say you're sorry as many times as you like, but if you keep acting the same way it means nothing! Now, maybe I'll change my mind later, I don't know. It all depends on you."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me stayin' away from her, because she won't even look at me." Darien said bitterly, not backing down at all, "I lost my temper with your brother, and I can't take it back. But I _never_ wanted to hurt _her!_ If you don't wanna believe that, lady, well I guess that's your problem."

Regal folded her arms and regarded him for a long moment before finally nodding. "Okay, then. If she decides to forgive you, I won't interfere. But you _behave_ yourself around her, do you understand?"

"Hah, 'do you understand'...How many times have I heard _that_ the past few days...Don't look at me like that, I 'understand' just fine." Darien walked around her and exited the Hall of Hearts. He needed some time alone to clear his head.

_Not long now..._


	12. Discussions

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ Sorry for the long delay, and for the short chapter. When I wasn't working or sleeping, I was busy RPing with a friend, so I'm afraid I've neglected my stories a bit. On the bright side, I've got some great new ideas for future stories!_

"Chapter 12: Discussions"

From the moment Regal Heart set foot inside her house, she put her son to work. Chance was kept busy scrubbing down the main bathroom from top to bottom, a punishment he felt was well worth the trouble. He had no doubt that there was more work in store for him but, to his mind, hurting his sister simply _demanded_ a retaliation of some sort. Just so long as he didn't have to clean the garbage disposal...

"Don't forget to clean behind the toilet, Chance." Regal said upon poking her head in to see how far he had gotten.

"Right-o." he saluted with a gloved paw.

"No need to be so cheerful; this was _supposed_ to be a punishment." she muttered, then added as an afterthought, "Oh, and be sure to pull up the bath mat and give it a good scrubbing too."

"Ugh..." Chance made a face; he hated that job.

* * *

A high-pitched giggle greeted Regal Heart as she descended the staircase, and she was pleasantly surprised to find Soulful Heart bouncing little Faith on his knee. The fox was wearing an uncharacteristically bright smile as he jiggled the cub, who squealed and giggled the entire time. Soulful stopped as soon as he saw Regal, which prompted Faith to mewl in disappointment.

"Owhhh...More, Unca Soulful, _more bouncie!_" she flung her arms wide, and he couldn't suppress a grin.

Rolling his eyes and giving an exaggerated sigh of resignation, he gave in. "Oh, all right...more 'bouncie'..."

Regal chuckled as the giggling resumed, shaking her head in undisguised amusement. This was a side of Soulful Heart Fox that most of the others never saw, and probably didn't even know about. "You're great with her, Soulful."

The fox blushed, though with his red fur it was hard to tell. "I had plenty of time to practice on the other four...You know, Faith," he addressed the cub, briefly pausing his knee-bouncing, "pretty soon you'll be too big for 'Uncle Soulful' to bounce on his knee."

"Uh-_uh!_" Faith shook her head vigorously, "I'm gonna be little _forever!_"

"Oh, no you won't." he argued, not bothering to hide his grin.

"Will too!" she insisted.

"Will not!" he responded gamely.

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

Then he changed tactics. "Will too!"

"Will not!" she shot back, falling for it.

"Aha! Gotcha!" he tickled her under her arms, causing her to screech before dissolving into laughter and complaining that he wasn't being fair. The lioness left them to their play, and went to look for her husband. She found Stellar fixing dinner in the kitchen. '_One less thing I have to worry about!_' she thought to herself.

Helping herself to a carrot stick, she slipped an arm around her husband and rubbed her cheek against his stripy shoulder. "Need any help, hun?"

He shook his head, smiling, "Nah, I've got it. There's plenty here if Soulful Heart wants to join us. It's just turkey burgers and raw veggies...not much time to make anything else."

"Oh, that's fine." she replied, biting into her snack and chewing thoughtfully. When she had swallowed, she said, "I still can't believe things have gone south so quickly."

Stellar snorted. "I don't know why you're so surprised, Regal."

The lioness gave her husband a dirty look. "Surprised how? At Chance, or at Darien?"

"No, not at Chance. He's always causing some sort of mayhem. Of course I'm talking about Darien. I knew from the moment I saw him he'd be trouble, and I was right." he savagely broke one of the carrots in half. "Chance was just defending his uncle and his sister. By the way, don't you think his punishment was a bit steep?"

"No, Stellar, I don't." Regal glared at him, and for once he didn't shrink back from it. "Not when he dragged Treat Heart and Loyal Heart along for the ride. It's good that he wanted to protect his sister's feelings, but he and the others went too far. Besides, if we didn't punish him, Noble Heart would have."

"Maybe so, but Darien deserved everything he got. Or did you forget that it was _your_ brother who got a tooth knocked out?" The tiger laid his ears back, displaying the white spots in a sure sign of annoyance.

"No, I didn't." Regal tamped down on her own temper with no small amount of effort, forcing herself to be calm and rational. She put her half-eaten carrot stick down on the counter. "But did Loyal Heart deserve to be made seasick along with Darien? And did Treat Heart deserve to spend most of the morning and part of the afternoon cleaning up after all those pranks?"

Stellar stared right back at her for a long moment before sighing and looking down, his ears still tucked back, but no longer in anger. "No...They didn't deserve that. Oh, I don't know...I guess if Darien hadn't upset Hope so badly, I..." he shook his head and began to look away, but Regal reached out and gently took his face between her paws.

"Stel...I'm angry too. But Noble Heart is handling it, and we have to trust that he's doing the right thing. If we don't, we'll be undermining his authority, and we can't do that."

Stellar reluctantly smiled, and he was about to tell her that she was right. What stopped him was a soft thump and the wailing of his daughter. The two of them quickly went to see what was wrong, but they saw that Soulful already seemed to have things under control. Faith had been playing by the entertainment center, and had knocked the back of her paw against it while spinning around in place. Soulful, who had been keeping a watchful eye, was a little late in cautioning her, and he was already on one knee in front of her.

"Aww, did you bang your paw? Show me your paw." he brought the crying cub's paw to his muzzle, kissing it. "M-wah! There...all better?"

Faith nodded, sniffling, and snuggled into his arms when he put them around her. She knew from experience that he wasn't a good singer, which was quite the understatement. Asking him to sing 'The Boo-Boo Song' was most definitely out of the question, so Faith had to be content with this instead.

Soulful Heart spotted Regal and Stellar a little late, and their expressions told him he had been caught in the act of showing tenderness. His ears flattened against his skull, and the look he shot them said plainer than any words, '_Keep this to yourselves, and never mention it again!_'

Stellar covered his muzzle to mask a smile, though the way his eyes crinkled a bit at the corners gave him away. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Soulful, would you like to eat with us tonight? It's nothing fancy, but there's plenty."

"Um...well, I don't..." The fox hesitated, still feeling somewhat embarrassed, and Faith looked up at him with those big liquid eyes of hers.

"Ohhh, _please_ eat with us, Unca Soulful, you just _have_ to..." she begged, clasping her little paws under her chin as she gazed pleadingly up at one of her favorite uncles.

The fox's heart practically melted at the sight, and he shook his head. '_Who could resist that little face?_' He took a deep breath, and nodded. "Oh, all right...I don't see why not."

* * *

After finishing with their dinner, Hope walked with Soulful in the semi-darkness of twilight. It had come up in conversation that he recently received some new books for his rather sizeable collection, and one of the books had caught Hope's interest. Soulful suggested that, instead of waiting until tomorrow, she simply come over and get it now, so she had agreed. Not that the fox didn't have other reasons for wanting to speak with her alone.

"Are you still giving Darien the cold shoulder?" he asked, sending a sidelong glance at his niece.

"I'm..." Hope trailed off, then blinked rapidly a few times. "I don't know what to say to him." she admitted.

Of course, Soulful didn't know what to say to _her_, not when it came to something like this. He could offer no advice on the subject of boy/girl relationships, so he didn't even try. Instead, he asked, "Are you still angry?"

Hope thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know...I'm not happy about it, obviously. He could have punched anyone, but of course it just _had_ to be my uncle. One of my uncles." she amended when she saw his ears flatten for a moment. She almost smiled when he looked mollified and his ears stood straight once more. "And he didn't say anything about it to me after the fact."

"Well, he's never had a family before." Soulful pointed out, not quite defending Darien, but seeing how some things simply wouldn't occur to the lion. "He might have said something if he knew it would matter."

The liger seemed to be in thought as she took this in. Clearly, that thought hadn't occurred to her. Soulful cocked his head as if realizing for the first time just how naive she really was. While he didn't think much of Darien one way or the other, he acknowledged the fact that one couldn't expect him to conform right away. Who knows? Maybe Darien did have the potential to become a productive member of the Family...if given enough time, that is.

"Do you think I should try to talk to him?" she asked, almost hesitant to hear what he would say.

Soulful snorted. "You're asking _me?_"

"Yes," she said evenly, "I am."

He shrugged. "With him living up here, sooner or later you'll have to. If you're asking me if you should _forgive _him...well, Brave Heart has, from what I hear. Can you do any less?"

And there it was. He wasn't telling her what to do; he was volleying the question back to her, worded differently, for her to come up with her own answer.

She nodded slowly. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."

The fox shrugged again, and fell silent. Was this good or bad? Either way, the decision had to be hers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Darien sat under a tree by the Rainbow River, gazing morosely at the swirling water. This whole thing had to be, without a doubt, the worst life decision he had ever made. '_I don't _belong_ up here...At least where I was before, I knew what I was doing! If Samuel could see me now, he'd be laughin' his ass off..._'

He yawned, leaning back against the tree trunk and heaving a troubled sigh. '_Least things can't get worse..._' was his thought as he drifted into an uneasy sleep. As his dream descended upon him, he found himself proven wrong yet again.


	13. Ghosts of the Past

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ I'm sure you guys can figure this out for yourselves, but I'll mention it anyway. The dream sequence will be in italics, except for the words with emphasis, which will be _written like this._ While it will be in story format, it can be assumed that he's seeing things as they happen, and that a lot of the narratives are his own thoughts, whether they're in quotations or not. Parts of this chapter will be upsetting to some, but I think it still warrants a "T" rating._

"Chapter 13: Ghosts of the Past"

_Darien's time on Earth hadn't been easy by any stretch of the imagination. The way his human friend Samuel put it, life was the ultimate game, and you had to play out the hand you were given, win or lose. Darien was of the opinion that he had been dealt a bad hand, but as much as he hated it he accepted it for what it was. Each night, whether cold, comfortable or sweltering, was another night he had beaten the odds. Each night was another victory._

_He really shouldn't have been alive at all. Twice, he had almost folded and left the gaming table entirely; once by starvation at the hands of his old master, and once in some sort of testing facility. The tortures he had endured there...He could hardly remember most of them, having blocked them out, and he preferred it that way. The ones he _did_ remember always put him in a fighting mood, and who was there for him to fight with? His diminutive stature, at least when compared to the humans, had forced him into a life of hiding. But it was _his _life, the choices he made were _his_ choices, and for the first time since his birth he was _free.

_It was a complete accident that caused Darien and Samuel's meeting. He had literally tripped over the man, and after a terrified moment on both their parts, the two began shouting insults at each other._

_"The hell's your problem, ya can't watch where you're goin'?!" shouted the human. _

_Darien, who was already in the process of running away, skidded to a stop. His jaw dropped in sheer astonishment as the man called to him yet again, in somewhat less than respectful tones._

_"Hey, I'm _talkin'_ to you, ya overgrown tabby!"_

_Now Darien gritted his teeth and rounded on the human, who was probably disguising his shock as anger. "Mind yer own business, ya crazy ol' fart!"_

_"Hey, I might be down on m'luck, but I ain't old!" the man got to his feet, wincing as his back went into a spasm. He groaned, rubbing his lumbar area, and gave a conceding wave with his other hand. "A'ight, so I'm a bit over the hill. What of it?"_

_Darien snorted, and couldn't resist a come-back. "I've coughed up _hair-balls_ better-lookin' than you, Old-Timer. What's a human doin' sleepin' in this dump anyways? Why ain't ya in some cushy house somewhere?"_

_The elderly human, who looked to be in his mid-to-late seventies, looked around as if seeing his 'home' for the first time. "Ehhh, that's a long story. What about you? What _are_ you anyway?"_

_Darien, who still knew himself as 'Demetrius', looked down at himself before giving an uncertain shrug. "Guess that's a long story too..."_

_"Say, what's your name, Felix?"_

_Not understanding the reference to '_Felix the Cat', _the lion scowled. "Don't call me that."_

_"Well, what the hell'm I supposed to call ya? You never said your name."_

_"You never said yours." Darien pointed out._

_"You're right, I didn't; I'm Samuel. And you are?"_

_Darien shook his head. "I don't use my old name...I got my reasons for that...It began with the 'duh' sound." he said, imitating the sound the letter 'D' makes, but not knowing any of the letters themselves._

_"Well, I gotta call ya _somethin'_. How you feel about 'Hey You'?" When Darien made a rude gesture, the man chuckled. "Just foolin' with ya. How about 'Darien'?"_

_The lion considered this, idly wondering why he was still talking to this human before realizing that he had taken a liking to the old man. Giving a grudging smile, he nodded. "Darien...I like it."_

* * *

_Four years later, Darien and Samuel had been living together on the streets, finding that each other's company made their living conditions more bearable. Samuel didn't mind Darien's somewhat questionable vocabulary at all, and the two of them spent many a night talking over some meager meal they managed to scrape up. Darien was growing concerned over his old friend's health, for Samuel had developed a nasty cough that sometimes weakened him to the point where he couldn't even sit up. The lion noticed that while Samuel grew thinner, more wrinkled and frail, he himself didn't age a day. Not a single gray hair could be found in the lion's mane, and he was just as spry as ever. Which was a good thing, because he was now doing most of the work; finding safe places to pass the night had been his department from the beginning, but now he found that he was having to provide food for the both of them, something he couldn't always do with much success._

_Darien also noticed an increase in the gang activity in the area they were currently staying in. They had been unable to move for about a month now, and while Samuel was hacking less than before he was adamant in his desire to stay put._

_"I don't got the energy for this, Darien. All this moving around, trying to find a 'safe haven' that doesn't exist...We ain't exactly in the best neighborhood. Anywhere we go'll be dangerous. Might as well just stay here."_

_"Sam, I heard gunshots last night. I'm tellin' ya, it ain't _safe_ here. You might have a death wish, but I don't!" Darien growled._

_Samuel's response actually frightened him a little. Instead of becoming indignant, the old man simply leaned the back of his head on the brick wall he was sitting against, closed his eyes, and sighed. _

_"...Samuel? You a'ight?" asked Darien._

_"I can't do it no more..." he whispered. "I can't move around like I used to. Even in the warm weather, my joints hurt...this year's chest infection was the worst yet...I just wanna stay in _one _place. I don't wanna die on the move."_

_"Don't be stupid, you ain't gonna die!" Darien practically yelled._

_Samuel sighed again. "Darien...I'm just...so _tired_."_

_So, against his better judgement, Darien let the matter drop._

* * *

_It wasn't long after this that Darien awakened one night to find himself alone in the alley. He didn't think much of this, because Samuel occasionally left to swipe a pack of cigarettes...a habit Darien wished he would abandon, but at this stage in the game he knew it didn't make much of a difference. The lion was warm and comfortable underneath his nest of old newspapers, so he decided to try to go back to sleep. What stopped him was the sudden appearance of a stranger._

_This stranger was extremely tall, wearing an odd set of dark purple robes with a cowl, and a strange pendant around his neck. Just how he had appeared was a mystery to Darien, for he didn't see how it had happened. What he _did _see was the glow from this stranger's demonic red eyes, and even in the bad light he could see the corpse-blue hue of the man's hands. If this even _was_ a man; it was certainly male, but it hardly seemed human._

_Darien couldn't explain why, not even to himself, but as soon as he saw this stranger he was gripped with a terror that he couldn't explain. He stayed where he was, hidden underneath his pile of papers, and tried not to lose control of his bodily functions._

_The stranger wrapped his skeletal fingers around his pendant and said something Darien couldn't understand. Several strange, black, ghost-like shadows appeared and floated silently into the street. Then, with a staccato laugh that chilled Darien to the bone, the stranger transformed himself into a large crow and flew off with a caw. _

_In spite of the fact that he actually _did_ have an accident upon witnessing this, Darien stayed absolutely still, watching and listening until he was sure the coast was clear. Even then, he didn't leave the alley, having heard a dramatic increase in human activity. He could hear humans cursing and yelling at each other, and occasionally the sound of flesh hitting flesh. His curiosity finally got the better of him, and Darien crept silently to the mouth of the alley and watched the proceedings from out of sight. _

_The first thing he noticed was one of those odd shadow things slowly floating after a human, arms raised and fingers curled as if to claw. _'They can't see it...nobody's seein' it!'_ Darien realized, feeling his hackles begin to stand up. He watched helplessly as the shadow reached the human it was after, but instead of rending the man limb-from-limb...it simply dissolved into him! The man's expression became hateful, and he suddenly reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a small, silver object._

'A gun...No!'_ Darien gaped, frantically searching with his eyes for any sign of Samuel. The man fired a shot, then another, both of which missed their intended targets. Humans scattered like marbles, diving for cover, and a few of them pulled out weapons of their own. Then the unthinkable; Samuel appeared at the corner, running as fast as his arthritic body would allow, intent on reaching the alley._

_'_What the hell is he doing?!_' Darien thought frantically. Then it dawned on him. _'He's...he's coming back for _me!_'

_He slowly shook his head, then shook it faster as he stepped into sight, holding up his paws and making shoving motions. Samuel spotted him, and simply kept right on coming. Darien was shaking his head frantically now, screaming, "GO BACK! __**GO BACK!**__"_

_There was so much shouting and screaming going on that Samuel couldn't have heard him, though he certainly saw Darien trying to warn him off. _

_But he didn't listen. Darien watched in horror as one of the men pointed his pistol at Samuel..._

_"No! No! No, Samuel, __**NO!**__"_

* * *

"_**NOOO!**_"

Darien sat bolt-upright, reaching out with a paw, breathing in rasps and hitches. Not quite sure where he was, he simply stared straight ahead, sweating profusely and almost hyperventilating.

Hope and Soulful, who were passing by the other side of the tree he was sitting against, were badly startled by this. They were unable to see him from their position, so of course they didn't even know who or what had made the sound. Hope sort of 'side-pedaled' with a squeak, nearly knocking Soulful Heart off his feet, but she recovered quickly enough to steady him.

"Sorry...what...or _who_ was that?" she whispered.

The fox simply shook his head, pressing his paw to his heart as he tried to catch his breath.

Darien, who was unaware of them, finally realized where he was and buried his face in his paws. He was surprised to find that his face wasn't only damp with sweat, and he was even more surprised when a sob rose up and forced its way out. Then he swallowed hard, and forced the rest back. This had happened more than a year ago. What he had just seen in his dream wasn't anything new. But...it _had_ been his fault, hadn't it? If Samuel didn't have Darien around to worry about, he might still be alive! If that...that _idiot human_ hadn't come back to try to get him out of there! '_The one human I actually like, and I end up gettin' him killed!_'

Soulful's sharp ears caught the sound of someone who had just lost control of their emotions, and just as quickly fought to bring them back under control. Hope heard this as well, he knew, if the way her ears perked was any indication. The fox knew that this was none of his business, but his curiosity was piqued, and by now he was sure that whoever this was posed no threat to them. So, when Hope moved forward to investigate, he followed her.

Soulful cocked his head and frowned when he saw that it was Darien, and his first thought was, '_Jeez, what's with _him_?_' As Hope approached the lion, he stayed a safe distance away and kept his own council.

"Darien?" Hope touched his shoulder, gasping when he violently cringed away from her touch. "Are you--"

The lion wasn't even sure who it was, and his reaction was instinctive and loud. "Get _away_ from me!" he screamed, pulling away from whoever was talking to him and running off blindly into the night.

"Darien! Wait!" She tried to run after him, but Soulful all but tackled her to the clouds in an effort to keep her there. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"He doesn't want to be talked to or touched." Soulful told her, "You don't know what he's capable of if you push him too far."

"No, but I _do _know that he doesn't know his way around, and he could end up running off the edge of the clouds!" she pointed out forcefully.

That brought Soulful Heart up short. The same thing had nearly happened to him many years back, and it was only the quick thinking of his friend Bright Heart who had saved him...with a rather painful yank on the tail. "Good point...Call a 'Car, you drive, I'll keep an eye out."

_Not quite done yet..._


	14. Reaching Out

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ So, when does the 'romance' part come into play? Well, since things are just starting out for these two, things are tentative and clumsy. Yes, Hope is a little naive. What she thinks is love is merely a crush, but given time...who knows? *coughthewritercough* Probably only one or two chapters to go after this one. Thanks for sticking with me!_

"Chapter 14: Reaching Out"

While everyone else was finishing up for the day and going home, one member of the Care Bear Family was just starting his 'day'. Bedtime Bear peered through the Star-o-Scope, stifling a yawn and yearning for the warmth of his bed. Though he was often called the sleepiest Care Bear, he was as active during the night as any of the others were during the day. This didn't mean that he was always wide awake when he headed out for his nightly Missions, though.

"It looks like this will be another quiet night." he commented to himself, turning away from the 'Scope and walking over to his Cloudmobile. Out of the corner of his eye, Bedtime spotted someone approaching the edge of the clouds at full speed, and he normally wouldn't have thought anything of it. Occasionally, when the Caring Meter gave an urgent warning, several Family members would converge on the Star-o-Scope to see what the trouble was. They almost always did so at a run, and they _always_ gave themselves plenty of room to slow down before they were anywhere near the edge. What gave Bedtime pause was the fact that the one he saw was none other than Darien, who had no way of knowing that he was about to make the ultimate skydive. The blue bear gasped, bolting to intercept the lion, waving his arms and shouting, "Stop! _Stop!_"

But Darien either couldn't hear him, or he didn't care to listen. Seeing that there was no way he would be able to reach him in time to prevent a terrible accident, Bedtime Bear thought quickly; he sent a Stare directly across Darien's path, the bright beam illuminating the night and highlighting the clouds' edge. Hopefully it would startle him enough to make him stop...

The lion had enough time to stop, but he _didn't_ have enough time to do it gracefully. He windmilled his arms as his inertia carried him forward, dumping him on his face. Luckily his landing was soft, and when he pushed himself up on his elbows he was sporting a cloud beard. He quickly brushed it off when he saw Bedtime Bear running over. Knowing that the strange light was only a Care Bear Stare brought some measure of relief, especially since it had kept him from running off the edge, but Darien was not in the mood for company. He was on his feet before the bear reached him, and he extended a paw, palm-out, in a 'talk to the hand' gesture.

"Are you okay?" asked Bedtime, concerned.

Instead of answering him, Darien turned to look at the edge of the clouds, which was about fifteen feet away. He took a step towards it, gazing down at the Earth below. Jumping wasn't on his mind, not by a long shot, but more than ever he wanted to get down to Earth.

The bear frowned in worry when he saw traces of tears drying on the lion's face, and he reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Are you--"

Before Bedtime could get any further than that, Darien swatted his paw away and took several quick steps backwards. "Don't touch me!"

"Okay, I'm sorry..." Bedtime held up his hands and backed up a little, clearly at a loss. Darien wasn't crying now, but he was definitely very agitated, and the bear didn't want to provoke him any further. Not when they were so close to the edge! "Listen, if you need a lift home--"

Laughing shortly, Darien quipped, "What's home?" He saw that Bedtime wasn't sure what he meant by this and, not much caring, he began to pace slowly back and forth like a caged beast. His arms were folded across his chest, and his tail was lashing with such force that its passage through the air was audible. Back and forth he paced, giving no indication that he knew Bedtime was still there. The bear cautiously maneuvered himself between the lion and the edge.

The fear and the sadness that Darien always experienced from such dreams had receded...mostly. Left behind in its place was anger; anger and helplessness. It wouldn't do him any good to whine about the past, for things would still be as they are, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. And now he was stuck in this absurd place, surrounded by creatures of his own kind who _wanted _to be his friends. Well, most of them did. Maybe. The trouble was--and he was realizing this a little late--he didn't really _want_ any new friends. If it wasn't for Samuel, his concept of the word 'friend' would be nearly non-existent.

Bedtime shook his head helplessly, craning his neck to see when he heard the sound of an approaching Cloudmobile.

"Land here." Soulful Heart pointed, having spotted Darien and Bedtime.

Hope obediently landed the car and quickly got out, followed by Soulful. "Darien! There you are. You shouldn't go running around like that, not before you know where the clouds end."

Darien froze at the sound of her voice, and he slowly turned his head in her direction. He briefly locked eyes with her before turning his back, running a paw through his mane several times in what almost seemed to be a nervous tick.

Darien's look in their direction had been quick, but it was long enough for Soulful Heart to read his expression. _Fear. Desperation to be helped. Reluctance to accept that help. Anger. Sadness. Grief._ The fox couldn't discern the reasons behind these emotions, and he knew that Hope and Bedtime couldn't see anything other than the fact that Darien was distressed. And, while he wasn't completely unsympathetic, he could see that Darien wouldn't say a word with this many witnesses. The only one the lion had made eye contact with was Hope.

In less time than it takes to tell, the fox assessed his dilemma. Whatever he thought of Darien personally--and he didn't _exactly_ dislike him--he couldn't simply let things stay as they were. The one Darien was most likely to open up to was Hope, but could the fox really leave his 'niece' alone with him? No...he couldn't do that either. Perhaps a compromise...

Hope jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to face Soulful Heart.

The fox lightly jerked his head in Darien's direction, whispering, "Talk to him, Hopie. We'll leave you two alone. I've got my cell phone with me, so I'm just a phone call away."

Hope nodded, swallowing hard as Soulful and Bedtime went their separate ways; Bedtime left to begin his Missions, and Soulful walked away until he heard Hope turn and approach Darien. The minute her back was turned, he left the path and hid behind a bush. He told himself that he wasn't spying on them; he was merely ensuring Hope's safety.

* * *

'_Okay,_' Hope silently told herself, '_I can do this. This is the same guy I talked to by the Rainbow River that night. Nothing to be afraid of. But supposing he doesn't want to talk...what if he yells at me? Ahhh, grow a backbone, Hope! He needs help, so go help him, ya big chicken!_'

Darien's mind was quickly becoming more rational, and he was doing his best to look like he wasn't worried about anything. '_When I yelled at the one who was there when I woke up...ahh, damn, it was _her!_ And she's coming over! Yeah, good one, Darien..._'

"I...didn't mean to spook you just now." Hope offered lamely.

Darien raised his eyebrows and turned to face her, plastering on a rather unconvincing fake smile. "I see you're talkin' to me again." The set of his ears and the way his tail was lashing betrayed him, and his smile faded when he saw that he wasn't fooling her. He sighed, spreading his hands helplessly and shaking his head. "What do you want?"

"I..." Hope shook her head, feeling a pain flare up in her chest. "I just want to _help_ you."

He closed his eyes, shaking his head more forcefully, his face taking on a pained grimace. "Look, just leave me alone..." He moved away from the edge of the clouds, heading for a comfortable-looking cloud bank. Hope watched him as he sat down, resting his elbows on his knees and cupping his chin in his hands.

No. She might not be able to get an explanation from him, but she couldn't just leave him like this. She knew she might be taking a big risk, but she cautiously walked over and sat down beside him. He lifted his head and half-glared at her, but he saw that she was simply sitting there and staring out over the clouds. He waited for her to say something, to try to worm out of him what had made him scream, but she didn't say a word. '_Just what in hell is she up to, anyway?_' he thought, nervously beginning to jiggle his knee up and down as he turned his head away. '_If she's not here to talk, just what does she want from me?_'

Several minutes passed in silence, and Darien gradually grew calmer. Soon he stopped jiggling his knee, and he stole an almost-shy glance at Hope, only to catch her stealing a glance at _him_. She looked down, blushing as he caught her staring, and he finally spoke. "I...I'm sorry."

"Hm?" she raised her head. "What, for hitting my uncle?"

"Tch...that too, but I'm tired of apologizin' for that one." Darien cracked a smile. "Naw...I mean, I'm sorry for...well, for yellin' at ya. For tellin' ya to get away. Didn't know who it was, and I just reacted." He finished in a mumble.

"Oh..." Hope nodded slowly, oddly touched by his apology. "Don't worry about it. But I have to ask...what happened?"

He had been dreading this question, but he expected it when she sat down beside him. He shifted uncomfortably, rubbing a palm across his forehead. "Had a dream...'bout something that happened a couple years ago."

Hope nodded, looking at him expectantly, but saying nothing. Seeing that she wasn't going to prod him to know more, Darien realized two things. First of all, this was a great relief and it took a lot of pressure off of him. Second of all, he found that he wanted to continue speaking.

"When I was livin' on Earth...I...I...had a human friend. Mentioned him before, to Noble Heart, and I think to that Bedtime guy. And..." he sighed, "This is stupid..."

Hope wasn't quite sure if he meant that having a human friend was stupid, or if talking about it was stupid; instead of contradicting him, she asked, "What was his name?"

He didn't speak right away, and he seemed a bit caught off guard by the question. "Samuel...his name was Samuel."

"You said '_was_'..." Hope pointed out gently. He looked over at her and slowly nodded. Then, blinking rapidly, he looked away again. Hope, aware that she might have been taking a bit of a risk, reached over and gently gripped his paw. "Tell me about him."

"Eh...what's to tell? He was old...Cursed like a sailor, too. Never had to watch my mouth around _him_. Unlike here..." he said, somehow making it sound like he was simply stating a fact and not being insulting, "We had each other's backs, ya know? I mean, we didn't really _have_ anyone else, and it kinda made things easier, havin' him around to talk to. Heh..." he chuckled softly, rocking back a bit. "Man, he was funny. Didn't matter what was goin' on, he could always find the funny part of the situation."

"He sounds nice." Hope smiled.

"Heh...Once ya got to know the man, ain't no one nicer." Darien told her, and his smile was more than a little sad. "Guess you wanna know what I was dreamin' about..."

Hope shrugged, but her face showed interest. "Only if you wanna tell me."

Darien's heart was pounding now, for a few different reasons. Her closeness and the fact that she was holding his hand certainly played a part; but just remembering that tall, almost demonic stranger, and the role he played in the mayhem that led to Samuel's death played an even bigger part. Feeling his throat beginning to constrict and his palms getting clammy, he took several deep breaths. "Yeah...I guess I do."

But he didn't continue right away. Supposing she didn't believe him? "You'll prolly just think I'm crazy..." he mumbled.

"Try me."

"One night I woke up...Back then, I was up at night and asleep durin' the day. Like that Bedtime fella. Well...I woke up, and Samuel was gone...went off somewhere, I dunno. And...this...this _tall_ guy with glowing red eyes came outta nowhere, let all these weird ghost-shadow things go, and he..." Darien clenched his free paw into a fist, suddenly terrified that she wouldn't believe him. "He turned into a bird an' flew away. I _swear_ he did."

Hope's mouth went dry, and she was shocked into silence. When she didn't speak, he mistook her silence for skepticism. His hands began to shake and the palm of the one she was holding became positively slick with sweat. She gave his paw a squeeze, and forced her almost-numb mouth to form words. "Darien...I _believe_ you."

"Y...ya do?" he looked up.

"Mm-hmm. We've met him. Oh, _many _times. Believe me, he exists, and you're not crazy."

Darien was embarrassed to find that his eyes were beginning to sting with unshed tears. He cleared his throat, looking away again, and kept a firm grip on her hand. Well, as firm a grip as he could manage with the way his own was trembling...

"But...that's not all, is it?" she said gently. Then she paled when the trembling in his hands filled his entire body.

'_Not now...Don't lose control _now_, you idiot!_' he thought in desperation.

Hope watched with no small amount of fear as Darien pressed his lips together and stared fixedly at the horizon, breathing rapidly in and out through his nose. She could see his eyes take on a strange shine before liquid began to well up in the lower rims. He tilted his chin a bit higher to keep it from spilling, but his efforts were in vain. He suddenly pulled his paw out of hers, jamming his palms against his eyes and half-turning away. "Gah, _dammit!_" he croaked, and before Hope could utter a word his shoulders and back began to shake in rhythmic spasms.

'_He's...he's _crying!' Hope realized in horror before mentally kicking herself. '_Well, what did you expect? He just told you a painful secret, at your urging. You wanted to help him, so _do _it and stop being such a ninny!_'

Darien was in hell. He was remembering things he wished a thousand times over that he could forget, and now he had broken down and started crying in front of _her_. He had wanted her to think of him as strong, as _worthy_, and now there was no chance of that at all. He fought to control himself, and then wept all the more because he couldn't. He was sad, he was angry, and above all he was _humiliated_. This was a new depth of misery he never knew existed, and he wished that the clouds would just swallow him up. At least he was able to keep it silent...

He jumped a little as he felt her lay a tentative hand on his back, holding it there, then rubbing back and forth.

"It's okay..." she murmured, "You don't have to say anymore..."

This destroyed whatever control he had left and, with a sharp gasp he gritted his teeth and leaned forward, cradling his forehead in his palms. He shook his head, a final protest against his rebelling body, and gave up the struggle. Hope said not a word, and continued to gently rub his back.

Soulful Heart, from his hiding place, lowered his ears and looked away. This was getting a little too personal, and Hope clearly wasn't in any danger. This wasn't for him to witness. He got to his feet without a sound and walked off, silently pondering what he had just seen.

To be continued...

_Author's Note:__ Yes, another one. Sorry for yet another sad chapter, but things will get better after this!_


	15. Uncertainty

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ Sorry for the wait. I had a cold, and I didn't feel up to writing. This is probably my shortest chapter to date! Almost done._

"Chapter 15: Uncertainty"

'_This _feeling_ thing is for the birds..._' thought Darien, his composure gradually coming back to him. How long had they sat there like that? Five minutes? Ten? Twenty? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that his head ached and his nose was running, and he was feeling very drained and exhausted. He hadn't meant to lose control like that...or had he? He had to admit that he actually felt a little better afterwards. For some reason, it reminded him of getting physically sick; it feels awful while it's happening, but afterwards there's an odd sort of relief.

He just wished it hadn't had to happen in front of _her_. He snorted back and swallowed hard, and wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands. He was looking in any direction but Hope's, not really knowing what to expect.

Hope, who had been sitting in silence all this time and rubbing his back to comfort him, took the opportunity to make a hankie with her Tummy Symbol. Darien was vaguely disappointed when she broke contact with him, but when she offered the handkerchief he accepted it and drew a hitching breath before blowing his nose with a loud 'honk!'.

Darien wasn't sure what had gotten into him. He was embarrassed to have cried in front of her, but at the same time he now realized that a small part of him knew that it would happen, knew that he_ wanted_ it to happen--at least partly--and knew that he needed it. Now he was regretful, but since it was too late to take it all back he simply sat there, waiting passively to see what Hope would do or say.

Desire to help him warred with fear and uncertainty; she was inexperienced in such matters, and her Missions on Earth had all been low-key kids' stuff so far. Hope wondered where in the world she had found the _hubris_ to think that she could help someone with the types of problems that Darien had dealt with all his life. She was even more unsure when he remained completely still and silent, save for the occasional sniffle and eye rub. She knew she probably should say something, though.

Unable to stand the silence, Darien finally mumbled, "Didn't mean to do that..."

She looked over at him, and asked gently, "Had you ever done it before? For him, I mean..."

Darien didn't answer her right away, and when he did she could barely hear it. "No...I guess I didn't."

Hope seemed to be trying to think of the right thing to say, but she closed her mouth again when he continued.

"Happened so fast, I barely got outta there myself...I dunno what those shadows were, but they made people go crazy. I..." he began to tear up again, looking down. "I saw him go down, but th' next second someone was pointin' a gun at _me_. So I ran." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand again.

"I'm sorry..." Hope whispered, rubbing his back again.

He sighed, looking away. "By the time I came back, the police had already been there, and...well, he was gone. After that, I was too damn _pissed_ to cry about it." He suddenly let out a growl, getting up and beginning to pace back and forth. "Why the hell couldn't he have stayed out of it? If he hadn't come back for me, we'd _both_ still be okay!"

Hope reared her head back a bit, looking completely gobsmacked. "Darien, it wasn't his fault that happened..."

He stopped pacing and faced her angrily...but he didn't seem to be angry at _her_. "When did I _ever_ say it was?" he demanded.

"You didn't," she told him, getting to her feet, "but it _wasn't _his fault. And it's not your fault, either."

"You weren't even _there!_" he paused, then sighed. "Don't know what I'm yellin' at _you _for...All I know is, he came back to get me, an' now he's dead." He shook his head, and moved closer to her. "All this talk of 'feeling' and 'love' and 'friendship'...you know what? If all that's gonna happen is you _lose_ 'em somewhere down the road, I don't see the point in doin' it at all! He wasn't willing to move on to a safer section of the city, so he was just askin' for it, right?"

Hope gaped, and it dawned on her that he was trying to convince himself of that. "Nobody _asks_ for that..."

"If it wasn't for his _stupidity--_" Darien abruptly cut himself off, looking horrified to have said such a thing about his friend, and turned away to pace again. Hope shook her head and grabbed his forearm, and he froze.

"Please..._listen_ to yourself." she pleaded.

"Yeah, I know, I shouldn't be sayin' all those things, I should just...I'unno, deal with it and let it go..." he said.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm not telling you to stop saying things...I'm telling you to _listen_ to what you're saying. Darien, you've been angry for so long, haven't you?"

She almost stepped back when he quickly turned his head to look at her, but his expression was desperate and even somewhat _hopeful_, rather than angry. She took a deep breath and went on, "Angry at Samuel for coming back for you and losing his life...angry at yourself, for not being able to stop it. But, from what you said...the one who really deserves that anger is No Heart."

Darien shook his head. "Wait, who?"

Hope realized that she had never mentioned No Heart by name. "'No Heart' is the name of the sorcerer who sent the Shadows among the humans. They influence human behavior, and not for the better. And maybe you're right...maybe Samuel _did _lose his life because he came back to get you out of there, but don't you see? What kind of friend would he have been if he didn't try?"

Little by little, all anger left Darien's face. Tears filled his eyes again as he slowly shook his head from side to side. "But...why _him?_ He was a harmless old man...He never hurt anyone!"

Hope reached up and put her paws on his shoulders, on either side of his collarbone, and said quietly, "Darien...sometimes things just _happen_."

"Well, it _sucks!_" he told her, his voice breaking, covering his eyes with a paw.

Hope nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. And, feeling that it was safe to do so, she hugged him. "I know it does..."

He stood very still at first, and for a moment Hope thought she had made a mistake in doing that. Then, to her surprise, he slowly returned the gesture, leaning the side of his head against hers and sniffling quietly.

"Come on," she said after giving him a few minutes, "I'll drive you back to the Hall. You _are_ still staying there, aren't you?" she asked, not sure if he had moved into a house yet.

The lion nodded, wiping his nose with the back of his paw, and allowing her to guide him. "For now..."

Hope led him back to her car, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut. His answer had been somewhat ambiguous, but after the evening's events she took it to mean only one thing; he must have decided to leave the Family. It was his choice, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She started her car, then paused, glancing over at Darien. The lion was in the front passenger seat, his elbow draped over the top of the door, and he had forgotten something important. "Um...Darien?"

The lion looked over, and he saw her put her hand to the strap that crossed her waist. She gave it a couple taps, and he realized she was trying to give him a hint. Comprehension dawned, and he mouthed the word 'oh' before fastening his own seat belt. '_Well, why didn't she say so?_' he thought.

His stomach gave a slight lurch as the Cloudmobile lifted into the air; he still wasn't used to that feeling! In a short time, they arrived at the Hall of Hearts, and he got out of the car without a word or a backwards glance. He wasn't trying to be rude, and though Hope was a little disappointed she didn't take it personally. She got out of the car and jogged after him, falling into step beside him, but he was looking at the ground.

By the time they reached the Hall's double doors, a line had appeared between Hope's eyebrows, and she was looking down as well. Maybe she should just take the hint and--

And Darien stopped, rubbing the back of his neck and regarding the doors with uncertainty. Then he turned and looked at Hope, and for the first time he saw her expression. "Hey..." he slowly reached out and lifted her chin with a finger, so that she had no choice but to look at him. "I don't mean to be like that, y'know...I just...I dunno how to _be_ around people. I..." he shook his head, disliking the shaky feeling that had come over him as he tried to explain himself. "Sorry I'm such a jerk..."

Hope chuffed softly, favoring him with a little smile as she reached up and took the paw he had put under her chin. "I think I can forgive you. Will you be okay?"

"Pff, sure." He removed his paw from her grip, and put it to the doors. "Night, Hope."

As he went inside and closed the door behind him, Hope looked down and whispered, "Goodbye, Darien..."

_One more to go!_


	16. Final Decision

"Darien"

_Author's Note:__ I can't believe it's taken me over three years to finish this! Here it is, the final chapter. Thanks again for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy it._

"Chapter 16: Final Decision"

The next morning, Hope was disheartened when she entered the cafeteria and saw that Darien wasn't there. It was still early when she and her family arrived, so there was a chance that he had simply decided to sleep in. There was also a chance that he had already gotten somebody to give him a ride down to Earth. She just couldn't believe that he had left without saying goodbye to her.

"Is everything all right, Hopie?" Stellar whispered so that the others wouldn't hear, lightly nudging her arm.

Pasting on a fake smile, Hope gave her father's paw a little squeeze. "I'm fine, Daddy. C'mon, let's get in line before all the cinnamon rolls are gone."

Chance, who was stifling a yawn, immediately perked up. "Cinnamon rolls? Gimme!" He quickly took his place in line behind them, wearing a childlike grin.

* * *

Darien gave a deep sigh of relief as he finished combing his mane. He didn't think he would ever get used to the pulling, but once the tangles were gone it wasn't too bad. When his mane was clean and brushed, it was sleek and black; the effect was really quite handsome. He spared the mirror a vain glance before setting his comb down on the edge of the sink, and ran a paw through his hair. It was nice to have a mirror for a change. In the past, he hadn't looked at his reflection much due to the fact that it could usually only be found in something shiny but not perfectly flat. A car bumper, for example, distorted his features to the point where he didn't even bother looking. Shop windows weren't much better, because that would have meant going out in the open. He had almost forgotten what he looked like!

Surely, it wasn't his personality that Hope was interested in. He knew that he was no piece of cake to live with, and that he had made a great many mistakes already. They had every reason in the world to want him to leave, to send him away. Instead, the Care Bear Family continued to treat him like one of _them._ Personally, he couldn't understand why. All he knew was that he _didn't_ want to leave, and that he would have to try a little harder to get along with the others if he wanted to continue to be welcome here. Even if it meant...ugh...apologizing to that blow-hard, Brave Heart.

Darien left the bathroom, and regarded his rumpled bed sheets for a moment before gathering them up and chucking them in the hamper by the bathroom door. He wouldn't need this room anymore. Now he just had to find Noble Heart.

There was a brisk knock at the door, and he jumped. "Who's there?" he asked, in gruffer tones than he meant to, annoyed at having been startled.

"It's Noble Heart. May I come in?"

Darien relaxed, and opened the door. "Actually, I was just on my way to find ya."

"Oh?" the purple horse raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I, uh..." Darien rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little bit uncomfortable. "I was talkin' to Hope last night, and I did a lot of thinking. She helped me work through a few things that were botherin' me, so...I was gonna leave, you know."

Noble Heart nodded, taking care that he didn't react to that. This wasn't entirely unexpected, as Hope had also talked to _him_ the night before, having stopped by on her way home. "I see..."

"But, um..." he cleared his throat, almost mumbling now. "I changed my mind. So...Listen, I'm no good at this. If you're still offerin' that house, then..."

Noble Heart smiled, lightly gripping Darien's shoulder; the lion stiffened, not expecting this, but he didn't protest. "It's already been built. You can move in whenever you like. It's good to have you with us."

"Yeah, um..." Darien glanced at the paw on his shoulder, and finally fidgeted a bit before brushing it off. "One step at a time, huh?"

Noble Heart chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender. "My apologies. Come on out and have some breakfast. I believe there's someone who would like to speak with you."

* * *

"Please, open your mouth, Faith." Regal coaxed, "You _like_ scrambled eggs."

The cub had her paws pressed firmly over her mouth, absolutely refusing to cooperate. Her muffled voice filtered through her paws as she glared up at her mother, sounding extremely sulky. "I don't want any. I don't _like_ 'em anymore."

Regal Heart had dealt with this before, many times, and she calmly put the fork back down on the plate. "Okay."

Faith's brow furrowed in suspicion, and she asked without taking her paws off her mouth, "You're not gonna make me?"

The lioness shook her head, tucking into her own breakfast. "Mommy's hungry too, you know. And it's getting cold."

"Okay, I'm gonna go get a 'cimmon' roll!" Faith said brightly, and Regal caught her before she could get up.

"No, Faith, your breakfast is right here. You took it, so you have to eat it before you get something new. You don't want to hurt Treat Heart's feelings, do you?" asked Regal.

The cub pouted, glancing distastefully at the yellowish lumps on her plate. "No, but I don't want it...It's crunchy."

"Crunchy?" Regal took Faith's fork again and poked through the food. She found no eggshells, but now she was beginning to understand Faith's sudden aversion to scrambled eggs. "Did you get a 'crunchy' yesterday, honey?"

"Mm-hmm." Faith nodded. "Now I don't like 'em anymore."

Regal nodded and hugged her daughter, hiding a grin. "That happens sometimes, when the cook is in a hurry. Sometimes some shell gets mixed in with the eggs. It's kinda yucky when you find one, huh?" she scrunched up her nose a bit, and the cub giggled. "Well, Treat Heart is _very_ good at what she does, Faith. It almost _never_ happens. You were just the unlucky one who got it that time. Now, Mommy looked all through it, and there are no 'crunchies' in it this time, okay?"

Faith looked at her plate again, and just to make sure she picked up her fork and poked at her breakfast. There were no bits of shell, at least none that she could see. "Well...Okay. Then can I have a 'cimmon' roll?"

"Yes, then you can have a _cinnamon_ roll." Regal nodded, secretly offering up a thank-you for the fact that her cub hadn't given her too much of a hard time. "Only if you're still hungry, though."

"Okay!" Faith bounced a bit in her seat, and began to devour her breakfast. It was a little cold at that point, but she found that her mother was right; there were no shells in it this time.

Stellar, having received his own breakfast, sat down at his wife's other side and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hope's coming, she forgot to get her silverware." he explained.

"Okay." Regal nodded, then lowered her voice. "I don't see Darien anywhere..."

"Nope." he replied, clearly not overly concerned by this.

"I think Hopie wanted to talk to him. You don't suppose he left during the night, do you?" she whispered.

Stellar chewed thoughtfully on a mouthful of toast, and seemed to be carefully weighing his response. When he had swallowed, and couldn't avoid replying anymore, he sighed. "I don't know, Regs. I know she must have talked to him last night, given her demeanor when she came in. Now, if he _did_ leave, someone would have had to drive him."

Regal nodded, eating another bite of her breakfast. She herself wasn't sure what she thought of Darien. The lion had made more than a few mistakes, all of them big. He had injured Brave Heart, and whether he had meant to do so or not he had really hurt her daughter's feelings. She couldn't forget that. On the other hand, these actions almost seemed to be a cry for help, and she didn't know that it was their place to turn him away now. "And what are you hoping for, Stel?"

"Ohh boy..." Stellar pinched the bridge of his nose, and turned to her. "I don't know, hun...I really don't know. I've promised to behave myself, and I will...but I don't trust him, and I can't help it if I feel that way. That's all I can tell you, Regal."

Regal Heart reached up and lightly scratched behind his left ear, smiling. "Then that'll just have to do."

Stellar tilted his head a bit, a purr rumbling in his throat, before leaning away. "That tickles!"

"Look, Mommy!" Faith pointed to the back of the Hall as Darien emerged to join the Family. "He didn't go away like you were saying, he's right here!"

"Yes, sweetie, I see that." Regal tried hard to sound enthusiastic; she wasn't disappointed by this, but that didn't mean she knew where things were headed.

Hope heard her sister from across the cafeteria, and she froze when she saw Darien at the end of the line. The lion had just finished shaking hands with Brave Heart, apparently having apologized to him. He hadn't left after all!

But would he want to talk to her?

Darien didn't take long to get his food; it seemed that he was more concerned with filling his belly, and that he didn't particularly care what he ate for breakfast at any given time. He piled his plate high with pancakes, dripping with melted butter and syrup, and he was half-way to an empty table when he saw Hope staring at him.

Hope wanted to look away, but somehow she couldn't. Would he resent her for her having seen him in a moment of weakness? She saw him avert his gaze as if considering, then her heart leapt when he looked back at her with a rather shy smile, beckoning her over with a slight jerk of his head. She grinned, striding over with her tray, and sat beside him. "Hi."

"Hey."

The lion began to cut up his pancakes, and the silence between them became a bit awkward. What do you say to someone the day after they saw you bawl your eyes out? And from the other side of things, what do you say to someone after seeing that? Maybe there was nothing to be said, at least about that. Darien finally cleared his throat, and said, "I, uh...I've decided to stay."

Hope raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You mean for a time?"

He chuckled. "Hopefully for a _long_ time. I mean, if you guys're willing to give a jerk like me a chance, even after all I done, then..."

"You're not a jerk." she said, probably more forcefully than she meant to. She blushed, staring down at her plate as she pushed her food around with her fork.

"Ahhh, yeah I am..." he shrugged his shoulders, "But I'm gonna work on that."

Hope decided that it was a good idea to change the subject. "So...how are you doing?"

This wasn't just a casual question, and he knew it. After hesitating, he reached over and gave her hand a little squeeze. "Ya know...I think I'm gonna be just fine."

Stellar Heart, who was drinking his coffee nearby, flattened his ears and looked away. He would say nothing, he would do nothing; he had promised. '_If that's how things are, then that's how they'll be...but I'm watching you._'

End


End file.
